Love Sick Fred
by zombierose3
Summary: Drop Dead Fred has been assigned to Natalie Bunce as her imaginary friend, but finds it a struggle since his memories of Lizzie aren't fading away. Quickly he begins to notice he's also losing his abilities as an imaginary friend the more he thinks of Lizzie or is around her. Is Fred being punished for kissing Lizzie before leaving her, is he sick, or something else? FredXLizzie
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This takes place right where the movie left off. I love reviews and it encourages me to write faster. ;) *hint hint*

****Disclaimer: **I don't own Drop Dead Fred, but since he's imaginary and all, I really have no control over the fact of him wanting to come make up stories about himself in my head. ;) The end.

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**Love Sick Fred**

_By zombierose3_

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**Chapter One**

Drop Dead Fred anxiously paced over the drab carpeting inside the Bunce's living room. He was sure if he'd been of a corporeal nature he'd have run a charred path in his wake, ruining the lives of dust bunnies everywhere as they were smashed into their little cotton-tailed graves.

Right then, Fred wished he was one of them. He already felt like it anyway.

He had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach, something unusual for him. It made him as agitated as he was uneasy. This had to be some sort of a joke. He could fathom no other explanations for it and his eyes momentarily shot a glare at nothing in particular, but hoping whoever was to blame for his assignment got the message.

Unable to keep himself from looking, Fred popped over to the front window, hiding amongst its sheer curtains as he peered out at the front yard. His upper body leant to the side in an awkward pose as he did so, his left leg bending back and his nose pressing and sliding against the glass. He didn't see her anymore. Maybe she was gone?

He tapped his fingers against the window, trying to form a plan. He hadn't been expecting this so soon, and he certainly hadn't expected…_that_! Why had she said _that_!?

"Fred!"

Fred pushed himself away from the window and turned, hearing the slam of the front door and the troubled footsteps that hurried to find him. He had felt who it was even before she'd shouted his name. It was his new assigned friend, Natalie Bunce, but he didn't force much enthusiasm as he turned to her.

Natalie entered the room, breathing heavily from her sprint. "Fred, what're you doing? Why did you suddenly leave?"

Fred pretended to be uninterested. "Nothing, and no reason." He didn't notice his pacing had begun again.

Natalie's face scrunched, feeling worried about him. "Doesn't look like nothing."

"Well, how would you know what nothing looks like? You're a _girl_ after all and we all know they have to be doing something all the time. Like being in everyone's business, and particularly, it's pissing me off!"

Fred twisted his face into a contemptible expression of annoyance as he pushed passed Natalie to plop himself down on the sofa, slouching in a manner which demonstrated an undeniable sulk.

Natalie froze. This was the first time Fred had snapped at her. If it had been anyone else she'd have snapped back, but Drop Dead Fred was her best and only friend. Plus, she didn't know how, but she could feel something was upsetting him and she wanted to find out what, but in her week of knowing him Natalie had quickly learned that asking Fred straight out what was wrong never worked. He'd only throw a bigger tantrum. She'd have to trick it out of him.

Carefully she crawled up beside him on the couch and grinned. Fred met her gaze just as Natalie tilted her head.

"You ran away right when I told you that Lizzie sent you her love. Are you mad at Lizzie, Fred?"

"No!" he shot back, squirming about in his seat. He crossed his arms. "Well, I mean, yes!" he answered after quickly thinking better of it. "She's a snotface." He rolled his eyes. He'd never been more uncomfortable and wished that Natalie would just leave him alone.

"Then, you know her?"

Fred turned his head sharply away from Natalie and tightened his arms against his chest. "Yes. Still -somehow - I shouldn't, but yes." He shifted about his seat once more, confusion now entering the picture. It hadn't occurred to him until then that he hadn't forgotten Lizzie like all the others. Why was she still in his memories? Why would he be allowed to remember her and be placed so near her? He didn't like this.

Natalie giggled, finding this side of Fred amusing. "You're not making any sense."

"Oh yeah? Well, you both should just go blow snot together and piss off on your merry-snot-go-round way!"

Fred popped away to hide in the attic before Natalie could ask him anymore questions. He slumped down upon an old dusty trunk and peered through the slats of a rounded window.

Lizzie's love. He couldn't get those words out of his head and they tortured him amidst the memories of their goodbye kiss. Why the bloody hell had he kissed her!? Fred asked himself this all the time, but the truth was he already knew the answer.

He'd expected to forget it had ever happened once all his memories were taken away from him, and he'd wanted to know what it would be like just once … but none of it was going away and he revisited the memory all the time. Haunted not only by remembering what he'd felt but Lizzie as well.

Maybe his bosses were punishing him? How could he have been so stupid? Bet they were getting a great laugh at his expense! Fred winced.

"Uhh... I feel like I'm gonna be majorly sick," he uttered, grasping his stomach. Something felt strange inside him. Fred hunched over and shut his eyes. Why was he feeling real pain when he was mostly imaginary and why was he so tired?

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**-(Author's Note:** I have the next few chapters started in rough draft, so there should be more soon. Hope you liked that. I haven't written in forever, so hopefully it's okay. :) Please review.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Sorry this took so long. I lost a computer for a while and then had some health problems. Thank you for all your reviews, follows, and favorites. :) I just wrote this tonight and will post it now, so hopefully it sounds okay despite few edits. Already writing the next part with more Fred, so don't worry. :)

****Disclaimer: **I still don't own Fred.

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**Chapter Two**

With Natalie and Drop Dead Fred inside the house, Mickey had decided to try to spend some quality time catching up with Lizzie, in fact he'd intended to take her out to an early dinner, but so far his plans had met with a cliff – not a speed bump – a cliff.

First he'd dealt with reviving the babysitter, who'd fainted upon the front lawn for all the neighborhood to see. His good deed was met with a severe verbal and physical lashing as the woman seemed to have developed some sort of violent tick whenever Mickey stepped into try and console her. He was so exasperated, Lizzie finally stepped in to grab the back of his shirt to remind him to keep his distance.

Mickey wasn't blind to the smile Lizzie tried to conceal by lowering her head and allowing her hair to cover her face. Her lighthearted spirit was enough to ease his anxiety. He loved how carefree she was! He nearly forgot about the hysterical banshee of a woman before him, who was in such a fit she nearly fainted twice more during the course of her rant.

"She's horrid! Absolutely the most awful, conniving, vicious— "

"You know what?" Mickey interrupted her. "Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook, swiftly writing out a generous check and handing it to the babysitter. "I can't make you stay, and I most certainly can't make up for…" He paused and glanced around his front yard, cringing to himself. "…whatever happened here today… but that's for your trouble and hopefully your guaranteed dismissal of it."

The babysitter scoffed and rolled her eyes in disgust before glancing down at the amount on the check. Her posture instantly improved and she composed herself so fast there was no question about her satisfaction. "Right. You'll never be seeing me again, and your child needs Jesus and a S.W.A.T. team, but no one's gonna know that from me." She winked, tucked the check into her blouse, and walked away.

Lizzie couldn't contain her laughter any longer, especially after watching the ridiculous way the babysitter walked. She lightly shoved Mickey's shoulder as it all came out. "I can't believe you just bribed your babysitter!"

"Yeah, I did , didn't I?" Mickey replied, laughing himself. His laughter, however, lay partly in anxiety. "Well, there goes another one, and all our dinner money."

Lizzie's laughter choked to a stop at that statement. "Our dinner money?" She tensed.

"Yeah. I was thinking I'd take you out some place nice to eat to celebrate."

"Celebrate? Did I win the lottery and no one told me?" She was purposely trying to avoid the subject and didn't know why. She'd been fine pursuing Mickey when Fred had steered her toward him, but something just felt strange about it now. Out of place. Her arms slowly wrapped around herself in a hug.

Mickey chuckled. "No. You're funny, you know that?" Lizzie scrunched up her nose and made a playful face, which caused him to chortle once more. "No, no. See, I was thinking after everything with your mom, Charles, and getting over the Fred thing you might want to go do something nice." He nervously scratched the back of his neck.

Lizzie uncomfortably held herself tighter, for a brief moment recalling the last time she'd done this. When Fred had said goodbye and she'd been left standing there embracing herself, wishing her arms hadn't been left empty...

She shook away the memory and stepped back from Mickey, turning and picking up a baseball Natalie had left in the front yard. She pretended to be occupied with it for a moment as she tried to quell her emotions.

Her silence made Mickey nervous, prompting him to quickly add, "But we can stay in and I can make us a nice dinner."

Lizzie watched, half hypnotized as she tossed the baseball up and down with her hand. "Yeah, sure." Forcing herself to blink, she squeezed the ball, and smiled at Mickey. "Dinner sounds lovely."

"Great," he replied, though the hint of uncertainty shook in his voice. "Then we should go in. I can get this cleaned up later," he said of the mess in the yard.

Lizzie's heart leapt as she thought of going into the house. She wondered if Fred would make an appearance. She began to walk, following Mickey to the front steps, but abruptly stopped, suddenly clutching her head.

"Mickey," she muttered, trying to reach for him and stumbling. She felt all at once weak and filled with a surge of energy, almost as though this force were pulling at her from all directions. The hazy image of Mickey's outstretched hands was the last thing she remembered seeing and the last thing she felt were those very hands slipping through her, actually through her!

Everything went momentarily black and Lizzie found herself reappearing seated on the branch of the large tree within Mickey's front yard. She was ten feet away from where she'd been... How? This couldn't happen. No. This wasn't real. This wasn't—Then why could she feel the tree!?

She kept running her hands over the bark and staring wide-eyed at Mickey, feeling herself grow paler with her panic. She tried to cry to him for help, but Lizzie could only take in short, quickened breaths and everything started to spin.

Mickey, unable to explain what the hell just happened, ran toward the tree when he saw Lizzie begin to sway. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she slid out of the tree and landed in Mickey's waiting arms, unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Alright, here's chapter three. It's full of Fred. I tried to make a good balance between his playfulness and the serious circumstances taking place. Hope everyone enjoys it. Thank you to all the people who are reading, reviewing, and following or adding this to your favorites. I love you all, and the reviews I do get encourage me to finish this, so thank you. :D Also, I make a joke about tribbles in this chapter, so if you don't know what a tribble is, it's a creature from Star Trek which is actually nothing but a tiny living ball of fur.

****Disclaimer: **I still don't own Fred and I also don't own Star Trek or tribbles. I wouldn't even know how to take care of a tribble. Do they even have mouths?

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**Chapter Three**

The dust-ridden pile of books Fred had managed to fall asleep upon teetered and crunched beneath him as he rolled to his back like a sprawled out ragdoll. His long legs dangled awkwardly over the edge of the nearly four foot long row of forgotten encyclopedias, making him look like some sort of unfortunate librarian giant who'd fallen asleep before caring about his duties.

Fred, however, continued to snore, until a sudden dream-inspired twitch made him disturb the sheet-like layer of dust atop his bed. This was when his enemies decided to strike.

A cloud of dust bunnies, most likely relatives of the ones he'd earlier trampled into the carpeting of the Bunce's living room, launched and were sucked like the tide into Fred's gaping mouth as he inhaled for another snore. Their aim was impeccable and their vengeance swift!

Fred choked and snorted, waking with a swell of panic. His hand clutched at his throat as he hacked and convulsed so forcibly it propelled him upright. Balance failing him, Fred slipped and rolled off the books where he landed face up on the floor. The impact ironically dislodged the dust within his throat and expelled it from his mouth as a dirty cloud poofing to freedom.

Fred blinked, dumbfounded and wide-eyed at the strange and fascinating display, yet the moment for him passed quickly, and he soon shifted to his old self again.

"Yech!" he exclaimed, disgustingly wiping his mouth off with his sleeve. The taste was foul! He whipped his head to the right and spat several times on the floor. "Like inhaling tribbles," he cried, sitting up and swishing his tongue around inside his mouth to try and dissolve the taste. He even stuck out his tongue and scraped it off with his dirty fingernails until he felt satisfied he'd been cleansed.

Standing, he shook himself like a wet dog drying off and shuddered.

"Well, that was a new one, eh Nat Brat?" Fred asked, expecting his new friend to answer, but the sights of the attic reminded him where he was and what he'd been doing before… before everything had gone black and dusty.

Fred's face creased in confusion. What the hell was going on?

He remembered popping up here, feeling awful and drained and then… nothing. He'd never felt that way before, but guessed it was like when humans got tired, but he was Drop Dead Fred, he didn't get tired! In fact, when he did "sleep," he was ever only pretending because that gave him the element of surprise.

Uneasiness suddenly enveloped Fred and he wrapped his arms around his stomach in an effort to calm himself, but the act only triggered another set of concerns as Fred recalled his earlier stomachache.

Imaginary friends couldn't feel real pain, except when their special friends decided to take nasty little green pills of death, and Natalie wasn't doing that. Or was she?

Fred realized he couldn't remember the last thirty minutes or so and his confidence plummeted. (Though truthfully, he really didn't know how much time had passed, but to add more to his guess would only upset him and Fred never had time for numbers.)

But, had Mickey Fartpants gotten Nat Brat the death pills? Fred was sure he'd have known if that gaseous buffoon had, and he was certain Snotface, Miss "Give Fred My Love," in all her sentimental girlish glory would have driven a fire truck over his fat head 'til it popped like a zit if he'd dared try and obliterate old Drop Dead Fred!

Fred smiled a moment at the images that thought produced, and of the memory of Lizzie, but it quickly faded against his returning concerns.

So if it wasn't the death pills, then what was it? Was he sick? He was often disgusted, but never sick. Still, he supposed it could be a possibility. After his experience with those pills he wasn't so sure he was completely invincible anymore, and these sudden changes which kept him remembering Snotface just made him all the more wary.

Really, why was he allowed to remember her, but not the past half hour? Had someone sneezed and shit himself on the job and forgotten all about Drop Dead Fred? Did they think it was funny? He'd had plenty of memories taken from him before, but this was the first time it was beginning to piss him off! All he recalled were hazy images he'd had while lying down…

The slam of a downstairs door broke through Fred's thoughts, and Natalie's screamed reply echoed after.

"Daddy, what's wrong with her?!"

Stumbling footsteps followed, then silence, yet the surge of emotions Fred received from Natalie told him he had to go to her. However, he wasn't ready to panic.

He figured it was something silly like the babysitter having a stupid fit over all the fun he and Nat Brat had tried to have today. He'd get this all straightened out and then there'd be mud pies all around, except for that girl, Mickey Fartpants. He'd get something else entirely.

Fred smiled, forgetting his own problems and shutting his eyes in preparation to pop down to the living room to see what had Fartpants' skirt in a twist, but that was when he felt something wasn't right.

Missing, even.

Opening his eyes, Fred discovered he hadn't left the attic. Hundreds of years and that'd never failed once.

"Well this can't be!" he exclaimed. "Drop Dead Fred doesn't misfire!"

He tried a second time. A third. A fourth… He didn't stop until he was well over his tenth attempt.

"What is this? Has Fartpants found the fucking Bermuda Triangle of attics?!" he shouted, arms flinging upwards in exasperation.

He was teetering on the edge of panic, the only thing holding him together being his unruly stubbornness. He didn't even want to think it, but it felt like his powers were actually missing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **I have a feeling this chapter is the start of what people have been waiting for. I'll try to get more up soon. Thank you again for reading and for your reviews.

**** Disclaimer: **I still don't own Fred. I just play with him. :D

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**Chapter Four**

Fred did what he did best when he didn't know what to do; he put it out of his mind until later. He'd done that with Snotface and he'd do it with this. He may have lost the ability to teleport, but his link to Natalie was still intact. Her need for him pulled at him like someone drowning and as long as he remained her imaginary friend that was something he couldn't ever ignore. He had to find another way out of this attic.

"Time to find the magic rabbit hole…" he muttered, before springing into a mad search, flinging boxes and kicking old furniture if they dared stand in his way.

"Where is it? It has to be here somewhere!" He turned every which way, panic building, until he spotted it: the hatchway out of the attic. He was cleverly standing on it.

Fred rolled his eyes, then dropped into a crouched position, pushing his hands against the hatchway to open it. In some twisted hilarity though, it proved to be as stuck as he was.

"Shit bastard!" he cried, grabbing the latch and shaking it violently. It wouldn't budge, prompting Fred to shove even harder.

Still nothing.

Desperate, Fred stood up and slammed down elbow first against it like some pro wrestler. It defied him yet again and Fred was accosted by a sudden influx of memories from the time he'd gotten trapped in that vomit-worthy Jack-in-the-box. All the guilt and worry of not being there for Lizzie cut his very soul. This wasn't happening twice!

He pointed at the hatchway. "It's you or me, bastard, and I'm far more annoying than _you_!"

With all his might, Fred started jumping like a child having the most enormous fit. He tucked his knees to his chest before each drop. He was gonna kill this door!

"Nothing stops Drop Dead Fred!" he huffed, shouting each word between leaps. "Come on! Open up, ya giant bastard!"

As if the hatchway really did have a sense of humor, and a vindictive one at that, the door dropped open with Fred still midair. His eyes bulged.

"Shit!"

Like a stone, he fell straight through, landing in a crumpled heap in the upstairs hall.

Fred groaned, his face scrunched into an unpleasant sight against the carpeting before he pushed himself to his feet. Heading for the stairs, he made sure to raise two very explicit fingers back at the attic for his troubles, before swinging his leg over the banister and sliding down to the living room.

When he finally arrived, he saw both Natalie and her father leaning over the sofa. Nat Brat's face glistened with fresh tears and though he sensed she knew he was there, her gaze never wavered from the couch. Fred suddenly didn't feel so good about this anymore. Neither of them would be this upset over that stupid, ninny babysitter.

"What is it?" he asked.

Natalie's face quivered and she pointed to the sofa. "She won't wake up."

"Yes, I know, Sweetie," Mickey answered. "She's gonna be alright, I promise, but please stay back."

Fred felt his stomach tighten, feeling time itself stop as he stepped closer, a feeling hard to achieve when time meant nothing to you.

_Please don't let it be her_, he begged, but that's when he saw her, lying unconscious upon the sofa.

"Snotface?" he whispered, his voice breaking with unexpected emotion. His body shook with the overwhelming feeling something bigger than that fire truck had just slammed into him. He leaned over the back of the sofa, his face inches from Lizzie's.

"Snotface, wake up. Wake up, please," he whispered, worried eyes searching her face, forgetting she was no longer able to hear him. His worry turned to impatience when she didn't respond and he screamed at her, "Wake up, dammit or I'll cut off your head!"

Lizzie stirred and Fred flinched at the reaction. She'd heard him? He immediately rushed to sit beside her, but Fartpants cut him off, nabbing the seat beside Lizzie and taking her hand in his.

Fred didn't know what he was feeling, but he didn't like what he saw and he most certainly wasn't going to let this fanny steal his moment.

Fred plopped himself down on the coffee table, and snatched Lizzie's other hand, squeezing it tight as he glared at Mickey. That's when Natalie caught Fred's attention from the corner of his eye.

He cleared his throat. "What happened?" he asked.

Natalie dropped her gaze from Fred when he decided to notice her again and proceeded to stare silently at her feet. She just shrugged.

Fred had only one conclusion to make from that odd response.

"What did you do to her!?" he yelled into Mickey's deaf ear, accompanied by a hard smack upside the head. "I bet you did this! She saw your ugly face and couldn't take it!"

Strangely in time with Fred's voice, Lizzie's eyes began to flutter open and she cleared her throat. Fred's attention snapped back to her like a wide-eyed and eager child. He expectantly leaned over her, his nose almost brushing hers as he was flooded with enormous relief.

"Snotface! You're awake! What happened? It's Fred. Are you alright? Did Fartpants do this with his ugly face?" He wasn't sure if she would still hear him, but was deliriously hopeful.

Lizzie's face scrunched into a look of confusion and she removed her hand from Fred's as though she hadn't seen or felt him. Fred didn't notice and kept waiting for her answer. She blinked a few times, as though everything were hazy, but then appeared to focus solely on him.

"Fred?" she whispered, hoarsely.

"Yes!" he cried, jumping around to the other side of the couch. She could see him! He didn't know how, but he didn't care!

"I knew you weren't blind _and_ deaf!" he exclaimed. "Still ugly, though." Fred grinned.

Mickey shook his head. "No, Lizzie, it's me. There is no Fred," he replied, stroking her hand. He paused and looked about nervously. "Or, is there? Do you see him again?"

"Yes!" Fred answered, snottily. "Are you even paying attention?"

Lizzie groaned, trying to discern what had happened to her. Her head pounded and her eyes were having trouble focusing. Touching her forehead, she blinked and looked around the room.

When Lizzie's eyes gazed in Fred's direction, however, he noticed a change to them. She wasn't looking at him this time, but rather through him, just like when he'd seen her earlier in the front yard. It caused a sudden and strange aching in his chest.

"I'm sorry," Lizzie murmured, "I must have been dreaming."

"What!?" But she'd seen and heard him! He knew she had! Fred was so frustrated he reached up and pulled his hair.

Lizzie nervously looked back at Mickey. "What happened?"

Fred scoffed and removed himself to stand behind Natalie, giving her shoulders a squeeze so he had a good grip for giving her a playful shake. He didn't stop until he saw her gap toothed grin. He hoped that cheered her up a bit and hid the fact he'd acted like a big girl. After this, he knew he was gonna have to explain some things to her.

"You don't remember?" Mickey asked.

"No. What, did I fly or something?" Lizzie tried to joke, hoping to make everyone smile.

"Umm…" Mickey gazed hesitantly at his daughter. "Natalie, Lizzie appears to be alright now. Why don't you go play in your room and I'll come talk to you about this in a little bit, 'kay?"

"You just want me out of the room because you're gonna talk about stuff you don't want me to know," she said, defiantly.

"No, that's not the case. This is grown up chat. I'll explain things to you later."

"Fred says that's a lie," she insisted.

"Natalie, now is not the time to talk about Fred. I think I know more than an imaginary friend."

"He's not imaginary!" Natalie shrieked at the top of her lungs. "And you're a liar!"

"Go to your room!" Mickey shouted, pointing to the stairs.

Natalie's lower lip quivered with anger. "Fine! I have Drop Dead Fred anyway and he says you just wanna peck Lizzie!"

Both Lizzie and Mickey's eyes widened, but for far different reasons. Mickey was just confused, while Lizzie knew exactly what pecking meant. Her face warmed with embarrassment. Fred was so lucky she couldn't see him.

Natalie stomped to the foot of the stairs, but stopped, and Lizzie noticed she was glancing back expectantly to the empty space beside the sofa. The space right beside her.

"I'm gonna stay back here," Fred said to Natalie. "To spy," he quickly added and forced a cheeky grin. "I'll fill you all in on the juicy grown up details later."

Natalie glared at him, not fully believing his story. Something was wrong with Fred and she felt he was keeping something huge from her. Something with him and Lizzie.

"FINE!" she yelled, shocking Fred as she stormed up the stairs, and stomped like a tiny elephant across the upstairs hallway before slamming her bedroom door with a bang.

Lizzie's eyes awkwardly wandered to her side, wondering after Natalie's final outburst if Fred had remained behind…

Mickey cleared his throat. "Really sorry about that. She's really a very sweet girl."

"I'm sure she is," Lizzie answered, too distracted with the wonder of where Fred could be to say much else. It felt so strange not being able to see him anymore; lonely and empty, yet nerve-racking. Honestly it was more nerve-racking than when she had been able to see him.

Mickey's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"About what happened to you… I… This… this is a bit unusual– impossible. You're gonna think that I'm crazy."

Lizzie tilted her head. "Mickey, I'm the last person who'd find you crazy." She gave him a knowing look.

"Right," he said. "Well, it's the strangest thing. We were, well, walking inside and you just popped away. …Into a tree."

Lizzie flinched. "Come again?"

Fred's gaze narrowed. "Yes, come again!"

"Well, we were walking up the porch and you suddenly got all…see through. Lizzie, my hands went right through you and then the next thing I know you're dangling up in the tree and you just collapsed!"

Lizzie's heart was beating so fast she could hear it pulsating in her ears. "What? Are you saying I teleported into a tree?"

"Sounds crazy, doesn't it?" Mickey asked.

Lizzie exhaled hard, eyes wide. "Not for some…" she admitted, knowing Fred had possessed such a talent, "but for me it is!"

"Oh, that trick is turning out to be a cruel mistress, Snotface," Fred muttered. He needed to sit down and blindly reached behind him for the armchair. Once he'd practically fallen backwards into his seat, he looked again at Lizzie and eyed her _very_ carefully.

So, he couldn't teleport, but now she could. This wasn't good. She was only human; her body wasn't meant to handle such power, and what if it kept happening? This time had rendered her unconscious, any more and she could very well never wake up again. How had this happened? It was like she'd somehow taken his ability and—

Fred's thoughts jumped to their kiss and suddenly couldn't help but feel this was all his fault.

His face fell into his hands, muffling a swear. Perhaps Fartpants should be smacking him instead.

"Please tell me it was some sort of elaborate magic trick," Mickey begged with a nervous laugh.

Lizzie shook her head, trying to understand what was happening here, but she couldn't. She was scared and she wanted to talk to Fred and she wanted to talk to him now. "No, I mean, Mickey, I can't do magic! I can't even do card tricks!"

Fred fully recognized that look in Lizzie's eyes and it agonized him that he couldn't at least lie to her that he knew exactly what was going on and that he was going to fix it immediately.

Mickey gazed at Lizzie in horror and for the good course of a minute appeared to have slipped into a paralysis. The silence made Lizzie realize that if she didn't want another person readying her for a rubber room, she needed to play this off. So, she did the only thing she could think of. She just started laughing.

Mickey's eyebrow twitched in response, bewilderment contorting his face.

Fred meanwhile straightened in his seat, wondering if Snotface had cracked.

"I really had you going!" she exclaimed. "Of course it was a magic trick!" Lizzie playfully shoved at Mickey and Fred quirked a curious eyebrow. He knew a lie when he saw one.

"Oh thank God! I thought, well I didn't know what to think, you know," Mickey exclaimed, visibly relaxing now.

"You're buying that?" Fred snorted and rolled his eyes. "What a ponce!"

Lizzie forced another grin. "Oh, well you know me. I'm crazy!" She waved her hands for emphasis.

"And a thief," Fred muttered, but really his comments were an attempt to mask his fears.

"So, how'd you do it?" Mickey asked, leaning closer to Lizzie with eagerness in his eyes. The sight made Fred want to puke, or hit him again. He voted for both.

"I really can't tell you."

"Oh, some magician's secret type of thing?"

That was the conclusion Lizzie had hoped Mickey would draw from her equivocal answer. "Yes, exactly that type of thing." She smiled.

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. I'm just glad to see you're okay." Mickey returned the smile and reached up to touch her arm, but Lizzie cleverly deflected it by pushing herself to sit up. She smiled regrettably.

"Listen, Mickey, I think I've overdone it and I'm actually quite exhausted from the, uh, the rigging of all that magic equipment, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to take a rain check on the dinner." Lizzie quickly squirmed out of his reach and stood to leave.

"Oh, yeah, of course," he answered, obviously a little thrown. "Another time, then. How 'bout Saturday?"

"I'm sure I'm free, but I'll get back to you," she said. "I promise." She smiled again at him and hurried to the door, making sure to close it before Mickey even had a chance to suggest another day or try for a kiss.

Once safely alone on the porch, Lizzie released a loud and shaky sigh. With every pound of her heart it felt like her body was in danger of being knocked over. She was so exhausted and felt the sting of tears welling in her eyes. She knew she needed to go home and sleep, but couldn't make herself move, not yet.

Shutting her eyes, Lizzie took a chance that Fred was still beside her and whispered, "Fred, I don't know if you're still listening, but if you are, I'm scared and I need your help. I need you to tell me what's going on. You're the only one who can. Please find a way. I need you." She stood there a moment, holding her breath and afraid to open her eyes.

To see that empty space where Fred should be… it was just too much for her to bear, but maybe in light of circumstances he would be there, staring at her with his big, excited eyes, wearing that awful suit with his insane hair and he'd tell her it was going to be alright and that she was being the biggest, stupidest girl he'd ever seen.

She opened her eyes, and her heart broke with disappointment.

Empty space.

Blinking away tears, Lizzie hurried down the steps and headed for her car, unaware of the teary eyes that watched her.

"I'll do what I can, Snotface," Fred whispered from the porch. "I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Thought I'd add some humor. :D

****Disclaimer: **Still just playing with Fred, and don't own him.

* * *

**Chapter Five**

As Natalie finished with her bath, Fred sat alone on her bedroom floor ripping the heads off Barbie dolls like some crazed otter shelling clams. Their tiny plastic bodies piled behind him, while he stuck their heads on the tops of pencils he'd found in a desk drawer. This was his brilliant plan to distract himself from a complete and utter panic until Natalie went to sleep and he could get back to work on figuring everything out.

Fred snatched up the one called Cindy and held her at eye level. "You die next!"

"No, no, no!" Fred's voice switched into his best impression of a scared little doll begging for mercy. "Please, Mister! I don't want to die! I have to go shopping and wear new shoes and prance around in lots and lots of pink things! Don't kill me!"

"Pink!" he exclaimed in his normal voice. "Yech! Green is better, you know! That's the dullest excuse I've ever heard. Well, say goodbye to your pink life!"

"No! Please, I have so much to live for!"

Fred scoffed. "Live for? Like what? What's so fancy schmancy about your life anyways?"

"Ken!" The doll sighed, romantically.

Fred twitched. "Ken? That _girl_?"

"Shut up, Carrot Top! He's not a girl!"

By now Fred had absolutely forgotten he had any control over Cindy. "Oh, puh-lease! How do you know? I've seen Nat Brat dress him. There's clearly an important piece missing, and I would know!"

Cindy giggled. "Oh, I _know_… We've done lots of pecking; we're a couple of pigeons!" The doll cooed.

Fred's jaw dropped. "Oh, gross! …That's disgusting!" He put extra emphasis on the last word.

"Is not! I know what I want! Do you?"

Fred blinked in amazement. "You're nothing but a plastic little tart, aren't you?"

Cindy didn't say anything, making Fred uncomfortable.

"What're you smirking about?" he asked.

"Nothing… It's just, that's what Mickey will do with your Lizzie, you know."

Fred's stomach filled with that sickening feeling again. He tried not to show it. "So, what do I care?"

The doll started making smooching noises, then moaned, "Oh, Mickey do me, do me!"

Fred's eyes bulged. "Oi, stop that! Dammit, now I'm fucking picturing it!"

The mental image of Fartpants going at it with Lizzie like some fluffed up cottontail on meth assaulted his senses. The bastard was grinning and Lizzie moaned and shouted his name like she couldn't get enough! Fred felt an enormous stab of jealousy shoot through him and he suddenly wanted to tear Fartpants apart. He couldn't look at this anymore!

In an act of desperation, Fred slapped himself hard across the face. The images stopped; however, he couldn't help noticing the lingering sting.

"Jealous, Fred?" Cindy asked.

Fred felt his face warm, and not because of the slap. "Of what, you tiny lunatic?"

"That he has her and you don't. Bet you wanna shag Lizzie yourself!"

Fred did a double take. "I…Who are you to…" Fred's face turned red and he couldn't think. "Piss off!"

"Fred loves Lizzie! Fred loves Lizzie!" The doll made more kissy sounds at him. "Drop Dead Fred wants to do it with Elizabeth Cronin!"

"No I don't!" he argued, voice cracking.

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do soooooooo!"

"You better watch your step, blondie!"

The doll laughed, maniacally.

"That's it, bitch! You die now!" Fred bit down on the little blonde's head and tore it off, spitting it out onto Natalie's pillow of puppies and unicorns. He couldn't resist adding a mocking sneer at Cindy's head, but that's when reality caught back up with.

"What the _fuck_ was that about?"

He glanced down at the headless doll in his hand and instantly dropped it as though it had a disease. Okay, that was bizarre, even for him…

Love? Pecking? Fred felt shaken. He wasn't completely daft. He knew that had all come from somewhere inside himself, but those things disgusted him. …Didn't they?

The memory of his lips against Lizzie's washed over him, making him shudder with want of more, and Fred was suddenly afraid to learn how much more. He abruptly shook his head.

"Since when have I become such a girl?" he muttered, searching around for something else to distract himself with. Something which couldn't "talk." The knots in his stomach seemed to be tying together now. "Stupid doll."

He plucked up a wiffle ball, but his hands were shaking so bad it leapt like a wet, scaly fish out his grasp.

"Oh sod it!" he shouted, kicking his feet. He groaned. All he could think about now was Lizzie.

Defeated, Fred pulled his knees to his chest and buried his face against them. What was he going to do? He'd tried all evening to pop himself away to his world for some answers, but without his powers he was trapped here. How in the hell could he help Lizzie without his magic?

That's when Fred had an idea.

His head shot back up as he glanced at the clock on Natalie's nightstand. Nearly eight thirty. Nat Brat would be in bed any minute. Then all he had to do was hurry her to sleep.

"Don't worry, Snotface, Ol' Fred's got a plan." He smiled. "I just hope it works…"

* * *

Natalie scurried down the hall to her room, eager to finally see Fred. He'd been on a secret mission all evening, but had pinky sworn he'd finally tell her about Lizzie after her bath. She was so anxious to know that she'd practically forgotten how mad she'd been at him earlier and was also excited to learn more about this game Fred wanted to play tomorrow called "hide daddy's pecking balloons." She wondered what pecking balloons even were.

Natalie swung open her bedroom door and skipped inside as it shut behind her. "Hey, Fred, guess wh—"

Natalie interrupted her own sentence with a scream, causing Fred to pop up from the foot of her bed.

"Oi, Nat Brat! What is it?"

Natalie rushed to her bed. "Cindy!"

"Uh oh." Fred cringed as he watched the little girl locking eyes with the Barbie head that stared up at her from the pillow. Her lip quivered, and Fred inwardly squirmed.

"Nat Brat, I can explain!"

She spun to face him, unfortunately taking notice to the row of pencils topped with Barbie heads and the small mound of doll bodies at Fred's feet. Her eyes grew wide, swelling with tears.

"I promise it's not what it seems!" Fred insisted, but Natalie's face was already changing color from anger.

"Why'd you do this?" she shouted.

Knowing he couldn't tell her the truth, Fred started spewing excuses out of his ass like a reflex.

"There was an uprising! All hell broke loose! They threatened to burn their bras! Cindy bit me! I caught Barbie rabies! They were gonna kidnap me and force you to eat broccoli until you pissed green and died all over the place! I was—"

"Fred, stop it! You're lying!" Her voice turned soft, "…My mom gave me them before she left. Cindy was my favorite." Natalie's eyes brimmed with more tears. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend!" he argued, but inside he really didn't feel like it. He felt like the biggest ass in the world. He'd destroyed children's toys before, but only for the good of the child or for their entertainment. It had never been for his own selfish distractions.

He sat on Natalie's bed and reached for her hands. "Nat Brat, I'm—"

"No!" she shouted, pulling away. "You're a jerk, Fred, and I don't like you anymore! You've been acting all weird ever since Lizzie came over and you've forgotten all about me."

Fred felt like he'd been slapped in the face again.

Bloody hell, she was right. He hadn't been doing his job with her. He barely knew her; he didn't even know her favorite doll! He always knew the favorite toy! He was Natalie's friend now, not Lizzie's, and he had to act like it, or else she really would send him away and he'd fail all of them.

"You're right," he answered. "I'm the biggest bastard there ever was and I'm sorry." With big, apologetic eyes, he held out his hand. "Still friends?"

"No! I want you to go away!" Natalie crossed her arms and turned from him like he was being shunned, but Fred's intuition told him she didn't mean it, at least not yet.

Hurt, but knowing exactly how to handle this, Fred hopped to his feet. "Fine!" he retorted, marching to the window and pushing it open.

Natalie leapt after him like she'd sat on a taser.

"Where're you going?" she cried.

"I'm gonna jump. You said you wanted me to go, so I'm gonna end it." Fred turned to climb onto the windowsill, but was pulled back by Natalie's sudden death grip on his arm.

"No! Fred, don't go! I don't want you to die!"

"You don't?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He pretended to think about it for a moment, but turned back to the window. "No, I'm gonna jump."

"Fred!" Natalie screamed. "I didn't mean it! I want you to stay, you're my only friend."

Natalie was in tears again and it pulled at Fred's heart. He felt like an even bigger ass now, but this was the best way he knew to end a fight. He'd make it up to Natalie, he promised himself.

Fred crouched down to eye level with Natalie and embraced her. "I won't jump then," he whispered. "Don't cry."

"You'll stay?" She sniffled, pulling back. Fred's heart nearly broke at the sight of her quivering bottom lip.

"Promise." Fred gently bumped foreheads with her and smiled. He remembered fighting with Lizzie like this, but shook the memories away and instead offered his pinky for Natalie. This sparked a smile as she hooked hers with his.

"Sorry about your dolls, Nat Brat. I promise I'll glue back on all their heads."

Natalie lowered her eyes and walked to her bed. "It's alright, Fred," she whispered, picking up the head of Cindy and crawling into bed. "I know you'll fix them."

Fred roughly mussed up her hair.

"Hey!" Natalie giggled and jerked her head away. "You're so weird."

"And you smell," Fred said, bouncing back onto the bed. "So there." He lifted the sheets and gently tucked her in.

Natalie tilted her head at him. "Fred… how come you got so scared over Lizzie today?"

"What— I did not!" he cried, feigning insult and snatching Cindy's head from Natalie. He rolled it around in his palm a few times before finally tossing it over his shoulder. "I'm Drop Dead Fred, nothing scares me."

Natalie folded her arms and leaned back. "Yeah right! I bet that's why you turned into a big _girl_ all over Lizzie."

"_Girl_?!" Fred leapt up to stand on the bed. "I'm sorry but this conversation is making me sick." He doubled over and retched loud, sticking his ass so high in the air he flipped from the bed and smacked onto the floor. Fred theatrically continued to roll about the room making sick noises and over exaggerated spasms.

Natalie had to laugh. "Oh yeah, then if you weren't scared, how come you were holding her hand?"

Fred stopped gagging and sat up. "Because."

"Because _why_?" she prodded.

"Because I was going to eat her!"

"But you called her Snotface."

"Because she's a Snotface!" His voice went up an octave as he said that.

Natalie bounced impatiently in her seat. "Fred, please tell me how you know Lizzie!" She attacked with the puppy dog eyes. Fred couldn't defeat the puppy dog eyes.

"Ah, hell," he muttered to himself. This was going to get him into even more trouble somehow. He was sure this had to be one of the reasons imaginary friends were made to forget their former friends.

"You're not gonna leave this alone, are you?"

Natalie folded her arms in wait.

Groaning, Fred plopped himself back onto the bed and took her by the hands. "Look, I was once her friend too, but I left. Okay? The end. Now go to sleep."

"Why'd you leave?"

Fred sighed, but composed himself. "Because I found someone even better," he said, smiling at her.

Natalie softly grinned back, but worry quickly overturned it. "Fred? What if you find someone better than me? You won't leave me one day, too, will you?"

"Never," he lied, lifting his pinky up to promise. "Not unless you get sick of me, but there's no one better than you, Nat Brat." He smiled and she hooked her finger with his.

"I'll never get sick of you, Fred," she added as they dropped their hands away. A small moment of silence passed before her next set of questions.

"Do you miss her?"

"No!" Fred answered, gruffly.

"Then why'd you leave me so you could stay with her today?"

"I told you. I was spying."

"Promise?" Her eyes were boring into him like drills.

"Promise."

"Okay." Natalie lowered her eyes and went quiet.

Fred brought his face closer to hers, drawing her gaze. "I'm sorry I left you alone," he said with sincerity in his voice. "I won't do it again, and I'm not gonna leave you like your wanker mother did, but I have a very sick friend I have to look out for, too. So… sometimes I might not be here right away, but I'll always be looking out for you, Nat Brat. Friends 'til the end."

Natalie's eyes reflected worry. "Are you talking about Lizzie?"

Fred nodded. "Yeah, I'm talking about Lizzie."

"Will she be okay?"

The question made Fred's stomach knot again, but he forced a reassuring smile. "I'm taking care of everything once you go to sleep." Fred felt Natalie relax after he said that, which was an enormous relief to him. He gently bumped her with his shoulder. "Now will you stop being such a girl about it?"

Natalie giggled. "But Fred, I am a girl!"

"Yeah, yeah." He smirked. "Hey! Want to know the truth about why I don't have any other friends?"

Natalie nodded.

Fred leaned in really close. "Because I ate all the others!"

Natalie snorted "No you didn't!"

"Oh yes I did!" His eyes grew wide with false excitement. "Wanna see?" He opened his mouth really wide to try to give her a good look into his stomach. Natalie laughed even harder, lifting Fred's spirits.

"I don't see anything."

"Oh, well that's because I pooed them all out!" Fred flung his arms for emphasis.

Natalie laughed again. "Gross! How'd you eat them?"

"I baked them into a pie!"

Natalie giggled. "A mud pie?"

"Oh yes! Where do you think I got the recipe to make it _so_ great? I never did tell you my secret ingredient, did I?" His eyes shifted to a sly slant and Natalie's brow creased with worry.

"Fred? You wouldn't ever eat me, would you?" she asked.

"Well I _did_ tell you my secret… so I might!" Fred smiled evilly and lunged at Natalie, tickling her without mercy. She squirmed and kicked, nearly getting him in the face a few times, but he kept at it, even as Fartpants entered the room.

* * *

Mickey watched in amazement as Natalie writhed about on her bed in hysterics. It was certainly a nice change from earlier, yet something about it also left him with an eerie sensation in the pit of his stomach. A familiar one.

"What're you doing, Natalie?" he asked, feigning a smile.

Fred stopped his fun and slid to the foot of the bed where he could glare at Fartpants.

Catching her breath, Natalie let out a few more exhausted laughs. "Nothing. Drop Dead Fred was just tickling me, Daddy."

"I see." Mickey glanced nervously at the bed. "Actually no, I don't see," he quickly rephrased. "Natalie, where did you come up with that name?" It was admittedly odd that she could know that name before ever meeting Lizzie.

"I didn't come up with it. He told it to me."

"Okay," he said, trying to think like a rational person. "But before you met Fred, did you ever hear it from any place? Maybe from Daddy talking on the phone or speaking about his childhood?"

Natalie shook her head. "No." The resolve on her face was unnerving, but her eyes suddenly sparked with excitement. "Hey! Did you know Drop Dead Fred then too when you were a kid?"

Mickey laughed. "Not personally, no." This was a little too weird. He again looked around the room. "Do you see him right now?" he asked her.

"Yep."

Mickey leaned close to Natalie and whispered, "Where is he?"

"Right there." Natalie pointed to the foot of the bed and Mickey got another sense of uneasiness.

"You have the biggest imagination," he said, staring at the empty space. _Please let it be imagination._

"Daddy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Um, Fred says he's not sorry for the time he pantsed you and your trouser snake came out to wink at Mrs. Cronin before heading back inside for six more months of winter. Oh, and he also says he's not sorry that you're such a complete and utter girl." Natalie crinkled her nose at that last statement. "Fred, my daddy's not a girl." She giggled and turned back toward her father.

"Daddy, what's a trouser snake? Did you call it that because that's where you kept your pet? Why did it need to sleep so long?"

Mickey's embarrassment was so hot he may as well have been fire. He'd never wanted to die more than he did right now, not even when Mrs. Cronin had seen his…

"Oh my God…" was all he could say to this.

Fred was laughing so hard he rolled off the bed in stitches.

_That was so worth it! Old Fartpants never saw it coming!_ he thought. He suddenly loved Nat Brat's incessant questioning. "Oh fuck, it hurts so much!" he shouted, rolling over and laughing even harder.

Natalie could only look from him to her father in complete confusion. Had she done something right, or wrong?

"Goodnight, Natalie." Mickey stepped forth and kissed her on the head. Not only was he embarrassed, he was officially freaked out. There was no way Natalie could have known that! What _was _Fred? An imaginary being couldn't have memories!

Mickey flipped off the light. "Love you," he called, before slipping from the room as though his pants had caught fire. Fred rolled into the bedpost, snickering like a lunatic.

"What's so damn funny!?" Natalie growled, but Fred just continued to writhe on the floor having his laughter seizure.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading. Next chapter will have Fred and Lizzie finally meeting up. :D Promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **I made a little homage to Rik Mayall's stand up in this, so if you don't get the Vanessa Redgrave joke then go look up his stand up poetry. Mwahahaha. Also, lots of thanks to Halo4anoose for cracking the whip at me and being my beta. (She has an AWESOME Fred fic too everyone should go read.)

****Disclaimer: **Still don't own Fred.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Lizzie sighed as she toweled herself dry after a nice, long bath. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep for days. Her nap hadn't done much in helping her recover from earlier, but at least she'd managed to have a light meal and shave her legs, leaving her to feel a little more human. She just wished she could shake her anxieties, but defying the laws of physics and popping off into trees made that a hard thing to do. Thankfully, she had a glass of wine that would cover that.

Wiping away some of the moisture from the mirror, Lizzie stared at her foggy reflection. The bags under her eyes made her want to cringe. She hadn't slept well since Fred had gone out of her life, of course, she hadn't slept so well while he'd been in her life either…

God, she missed him. Natalie was one lucky little girl.

Lizzie straightened and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "Get it together, Lizzie. You're jealous of a six year old."

She breathed deep, but her chest was pounding. Suddenly all she could think about was Fred and their last moments together, something she'd tried like hell to keep from her mind for days, but right now all she wanted was to crawl back into that moment and savor it. She wanted to wrap her arms around him once more, and hold onto him so tightly that this time it would pull him back to reality with her.

Lizzie shivered. She couldn't explain it, but something inside her felt like he was still with her even now. This strange, warm energy…

A feeling of lightheadedness suddenly overtook her and she held to the counter for balance, fingers curling over the tile as her breathing turned labored.

* * *

With Nat Brat fast asleep, Drop Dead Fred was on his hurried way to find a map, presumably in Fartpants' desk drawer where he assumed such things were kept. He figured maps were how people got around when they wanted to find somebody and didn't have any magical powers. He'd seen lots of pirates do it in countless films, so why not him?

However, as Fred made his way for the stairs, a shockwave burst through his being, pinning him in place. Panicked, he struggled in vain to break free, until a familiar energy pulsated around him. Everything faded from view and an intangible force pulled him further into the darkness. In an instant the world reemerged, and Fred's jaw dropped when he saw what was waiting for him…

"Elizabeth?!" he exclaimed, voice pitching so high it cracked. His eyes did a double, a triple, and a forth take just to make sure this was real, and it was. Lizzie was standing right in front of him stark, fucking naked!

"Oh thank god," Lizzie breathed, as she felt the strange energy subside with her still conscious and standing within the privacy of her own bathroom. "Definitely gonna need two glasses of that wine now." She pushed herself back up and sighed, her breasts gently rising as she did.

Fred swore his eyes were about to pop out of his head, and if Lizzie hadn't so graciously taken his powers from him they very well might have! He was afraid to move, mildly afraid to stare, and extremely unable to look away. He didn't even think he could blink if he ever remembered how. He was nothing, but a doomed deer caught in Lizzie's high beams.

"Bloody hell, how long has she been hiding those?" he muttered, all rational thought out the window and hopping the train to the next universe.

Lizzie turned, unknowingly brushing past Fred as she hung her towel on the rack to dry. His eyes traced the contours of her naked body, taking full notice of her smooth-looking skin, her tiny waist, and round little bottom. He didn't know what was coming over him but felt like he'd die if he didn't return the same favor back to her. A noticeable ache started to build in his groin.

The phone suddenly rang from Lizzie's bedroom nightstand, causing both Fred and Lizzie to jump. Fred, however, got a double dosage of surprise, as Lizzie unknowingly moved against him. An unintelligible moan dribbled from his mouth.

"Shit," Lizzie exclaimed. Now she definitely needed that drink. Maybe she was losing her damn mind? Things would be simpler if she just had the good sense to be insane.

Reaching for her robe, Lizzie slipped it on, tied it shut, and hurried to answer the phone. She prayed whoever it was would make it a short conversation.

Fred meanwhile, finally remembered to blink and followed her into the bedroom. With the tightness in his pants gone, his mind kicked back into gear and caught up with the situation.

"Right," he whispered. He had to figure this out.

Magic had brought him here, but it definitely hadn't come from him…

Lizzie picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Lizzie, h-hi… It's Mickey. I hope I'm not calling too late?" His voice held a nervous tone.

Fred childishly mimicked what he heard Mickey saying over the phone and ad-libbed with an eye roll and farting sound.

"No, not really. I was just getting ready for bed, though," Lizzie answered.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to interrupt. I know you said you wanted to rest, but I just… There's something important I've gotta ask you."

Lizzie's stomach flipped. _Please don't be asking me out_, she thought. "Okay..."

She braced herself, but silence was her only response. This had to be about something else.

"Mickey, is everything alri—?"

"Drop Dead Fred's real!" Mickey shouted.

Lizzie briefly yanked the phone from her ear to avoid the sting. "Uh… I… _What_?"

"Lizzie, I'm serious. I'm so sorry I never believed you."

Was she actually hearing this? It was almost a relief, until an unsettling feeling crept over her. _Fred, what the hell did you do now_, she thought. She could almost feel Mickey hyperventilating.

"Thanks, but I get the feeling this phone call isn't about an apology…" she said. "How exactly did you find this out?"

Mickey cleared his throat. "I… Well, he knew some very personal events that took place in my past, things Natalie would never have any way of knowing, things I'd sooner take to my grave than relive."

Lizzie's interest was piqued. "What sort of personal events?" She had to force back the chuckle in her throat. Fred snorted from his seat upon her dresser.

"Like I said, taking it to my grave…" Mickey reiterated, "but that's not exactly why I called. I just… Dammit! Lizzie, what _is_ Fred? Who knows what else he knows, or what he's capable of!"

"I'm capable of seeing Lizzie naked whereas you haven't, tosser," Fred scoffed. He wasn't sure why, but that filled him with an immense sense of pride. Mickey continued with his stupid ramble.

"Memories aren't the makings of an imaginary being, that's some… I don't know what that is!"

"Mickey, calm down! Fred's completely harmless."

Fred smiled and sat back, confidently.

"Well, maybe not harmless," Lizzie added.

Fred shot back up. "Hey!"

"…but he'd never do anything freak…" Lizzie smacked her herself on the forehead. "Let me start over. What are you asking again?" She scrunched her face. This was going horribly.

"Oi, that hurts, Snotface." Fred fell back against the dresser mirror and pouted.

"I'm trying to ask, is Fred dangerous? Do I need to call an exorcist or something?"

Lizzie laughed. "No. Mickey, Fred would never harm anyone. He's unpredictable and very over-excitable, but trust me, he loves children and does anything he can to make them happy. He was my best friend."

Hearing that returned the smile to Fred's face.

"Didn't you always describe him as a grown man? He's not some sort of pedophile, is he?"

"Pet a what?" Fred exclaimed. What the devil was that?

"No, of course not!" Lizzie was disgusted Mickey could even ask such a thing and Fred didn't like the nasty expression Fartpants' remark had created. He didn't know what it meant, but he recognized he should feel insulted.

"Then what is he?"

Lizzie suddenly had no response.

"He must have told you," Mickey added.

Lizzie sat down on the edge of the bed, dumbfounded. "Actually, no. It never even occurred to me to ask him what he was."

"It never occurred to you? Lizzie, you were friends with him forever, didn't you ever stop to wonder?"

These questions were unnerving Lizzie. She actually felt a bit guilty not knowing the answers to them. "I… I don't know, Mickey. He just always told me he was imaginary. I never thought to question it. You don't really delve that deeply when you're six!"

"You weren't six when he came back!"

"I was under a lot of stress! Do you think it really occurred to me to give my imaginary friend the third degree after what I was going through?"

Mickey silenced a moment and Lizzie could feel her heart threatening to break her ribcage.

"I'm sorry," Mickey said at last. "It's just… I really don't know what to make of this and I wanted to make sure Natalie would be okay."

Lizzie relaxed a bit, but was still very upset. "She'll be fine. She's in good hands." Her remaining frustration escaped in a loud sigh as she turned to see what time it was, but something from the dresser mirror caught her eye.

Lizzie's head jerked back for a second look and the phone dropped from her hand. She screamed, sending Fred leaping from the dresser like a shot.

"Oi, what is it, Snotface?!" he shouted.

Lizzie blinked and snatched up the phone. "Mickey, I've gotta go." Her hands fumbled for the receiver, Mickey's voice blaring from the phone until she successfully dropped it back on the hook.

"Oh my God!" she gasped, covering her mouth. Was she really seeing this? Breathing heavily, Lizzie stumbled to her feet and stared like she'd seen a damn ghost.

Fred tensed. She appeared once again to be looking at him…

"Snotface, can you see me?"

Lizzie didn't respond, but instead moved toward the dresser mirror behind him. Fred nervously turned and when he saw what was so damn startling, he just about mirrored Lizzie's expression.

He had a reflection.

Fred's eyes shot back at Lizzie, then again to the mirror.

"You can't see me, can you?" he asked her, stepping closer to wave his hand in front of her face. "Just in the mirror?"

Lizzie reached a shaky hand toward dresser. The reflection was faded and see through, but he was there. Fred was waving and speaking to her; she just couldn't hear a damn word of it.

"Fred?" she whispered, pressing her palm against the mirror, as though she expected to touch him and prove she wasn't crazy.

Fred shook his head. He didn't know how he'd grown a reflection, but he was going to take this chance while he had it.

Not sure of a better way to communicate, Fred smiled and lifted his hand to wave at Lizzie.

Lizzie pulled back her hand, a smile beginning to light her own face. "How are you doing this?" she asked.

Fred shrugged in exaggeration.

"I never thought I'd see you again… I-is it really you?"

Fred raised an eyebrow and glanced down at himself a moment, as if to check. "Of course it's me! Am I that hard to recognize?" He caught Lizzie's confused and crestfallen expression and shook his head. This wasn't going to work. He needed to try something else.

Fred held up his hand and Lizzie watched in amazement as he attempted to mime her a message. It started with him pointing to both himself and her, which was simple enough to follow, but when Fred popped up his hand like some sort of crazy puppet it all just got weird from there.

Like some sort of bad, silent melodrama, Fred tossed a romantic gaze at his hand, puckered up and planted the most disturbing of kisses right smack on its side. He lingered there like they were having some sort of moment before painfully tearing away and leaping beside Lizzie.

He pointed at her again and proceeded to walk in place, before hopping to the side and flicking his pinky into the air. He held it high, sucked in his cheeks, and waggled his hips like he was having an attack. A horrified expression flared on Lizzie's face.

Fred quickly stopped and gagged like he disapproved of whatever that had been. Everything after that was a whirlwind of even greater confusion, which included Fred flailing around in circles and dropping to the ground. It didn't end until Fred was lifting his palms up like a mime trapped in a box.

"Fred," Lizzie squeaked, absolutely beside herself. Her mouth had been hanging open so long it had gone dry. "I'm not sure what just took place here… but unless making out with your hand infected you with some sort of disease, led you to a life change, and finally imprisoned you in some sort of an invisible box, I don't understand a thing you've just tried to tell me!"

Fred smacked his head. "How hard is it to get that I said our kiss has you bouncing off trees, me napping in attics, and that Fartpants is still a damn girl?!"

Lizzie lifted her eyebrows at him and Fred flung his arms upwards in exasperation.

How was he to get this through to her? The woman just couldn't appreciate good theatre. Bet she didn't even know Vanessa Redgrave, either. Fred sighed, calming down a bit. He wasn't going to get anywhere unless he could get Lizzie to understand him.

"Fred, you're the worst mime I've ever seen," Lizzie teased.

Fred playfully stuck his tongue out at her, making her laugh. His tension eased as he realized how much he'd missed that sound. "Oh, Snotface," he sighed. "I wish you could understand me, but it's not like I can just spell it out for you."

Lizzie's brow creased as she watched him speak. She wasn't sure what he'd just said, but it seemed to have given him an idea. He lifted his finger and started using it to spell out letters in the air. Breathless, Lizzie followed his every swipe and spoke each one aloud until she had his message.

_Hi, Snotface._

A smile erupted from her lips. "This is so much better. I still can't believe you're here."

_I think you called me here_, he spelled out, after a few spelling errors Lizzie didn't have the heart to point out.

"How?"

Fred raised his arm, but hesitated. Lizzie could tell he wasn't sure what to say.

_Not important, but I want to test something._

Lizzie stepped closer to the mirror. "What?"

_Need your help to get home._

Lizzie tensed. "Home to Natalie?" He'd barely gotten here and already wanted to go?

_No._

Lizzie relaxed. "Okay. What do you mean? Where is home and why do you need me?"

Fred rolled his eyes and held his head a moment as he formulated the quickest way to spell this out. He started counting letters on his fingers. What was with these girls and questions?

Lizzie thankfully realized she'd asked too much. "Never mind. Fred, why do you need to get home?

_To help you._

Lizzie nodded, still unsure why that involved her. "Okay, what do you need me to do?"

Fred looked confused a moment, but waved out, _What did you do right before I got here?_

Lizzie's brow furrowed. "I don't know. I… I kept thinking about you and how much… you, er, I… wanted to see you." She cleared her throat. "I suppose." That was articulate, she thought.

So that was it. Fred's face flushed. "Then it's a good thing I didn't get a reflection until now…"

Lizzie blanched. "Um… Fred?"

"And it's a good thing you can't hear a word I'm saying either," he mumbled.

Lizzie's eyes narrowed. "Fred, what do you mean '_until now_?'"

Fred twitched. "You just heard me, didn't you?" he asked.

Lizzie stepped closer, eyes boring into his reflection. Fred was doing all he could to point his gaze at anything but her and that was when it all clicked for Lizzie.

"Oh hell!" She glanced back at the bathroom. He wouldn't. Would he? "Oh no. Fred, you saw me naked, didn't you?"

"Why would I ever look at _that_?"

She didn't believe him. "How long were you standing there?"

Fred smirked and spoke out of the side of his mouth, "Long enough_…_" His eyes widened as he said it.

Lizzie choked. She was mortified. "Fred, you can't just pop into people's bathrooms when they're… Oh God!"

"Well then don't invite me in so readily!" Fred shouted.

Her jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"Look, you took my powers, I can't pop anywhere. Somehow your missing me did it, so the shame's on your head!"

Lizzie was beside herself. "I... I took your powers? But…"

Fred nodded. "Ha, there, see?"

Lizzie shook her head. "See what? I'm not the one who got caught staring!"

"Pfft! I didn't get caught!" Fred's smile fell in upon itself. "Oh bugger…" The smirk on Lizzie's face was now twice the size his had been.

"Alright! There! You caught me. I'm a filthy, filthy pervert, but you made it hard to look away. Are you happy?"

A smile ticked at Lizzie's lips. Had she really just heard Fred admit that he'd enjoyed seeing her naked?

"Yes, I _am_ happy," she answered. The twitch on Fred's face was just the reaction she'd wanted to see. Served him right.

"Yes, yes. Good, good." He sulked, already plotting to get her back for outing him.

"Let's just get back to what you need me to do," Lizzie suggested. "How does this work?"

Fred glanced at her uncertainly for a moment, as though this were some sort of trap. "Well, I think I've figured it out… It seems you tap into my powers whenever you're emotionally overwhelmed, but now that I'm here I think can control them once they start up." He smiled.

"Fred, how in the hell do you expect to do that?"

"Well, they are _mine_, after all."

"And what if it doesn't work?"

"It will," Fred said like he had no doubts in the world.

"Then how will you get back once you're done?"

"Other imaginary friends. I'm not the only one, you know." He playfully rolled his eyes and Lizzie's worry no longer seemed so great, but a few last questions nagged at her.

"Fred, the first time I used your magic I passed out, the second I only felt a little drained… What will this do? What's it doing to me?"

"I actually don't know all that yet, but I think the first time it took so much from you because you used it on yourself and you're definitely not like me."

"You mean, because I'm real?"

Fred frowned. "Yeah."

"Then the second time didn't affect me as much because I used it on you?"

"I think so. This time you should be more than fine because I'll be controlling it." At least he hoped.

Lizzie nodded. "Alright… Now how do we trigger it? Seems a little difficult to just make myself 'emotionally overwhelmed.'"

Fred's eyes narrowed and Lizzie noticed he was studying her face. She nervously leaned back from the reflection, but jumped when her back met with something solid.

Turning her head, she couldn't believe what she saw.

Fred wasn't invisible anymore and it took her a moment to realize he'd moved to stand in front of her. That was when Lizzie forgot to breathe. She wasn't staring at just a reflection anymore.

"You said you missed me, right?" he asked.

"Y-yeah…" What was with that nervous glint in his eyes?

Fred took a deep breath. "Alright, then. I have it!"

He leaned in, pressing his lips to Lizzie's in a deep and tender kiss, which to her surprise she felt in full. The gentleness of it coaxed a moan from her and Fred responded by pulling her tightly into his arms. He could already feel his magic waking up inside of her, and cursed his plan for working so well.

Lizzie's breath hitched, feeling as though all the oxygen had been sucked from the room. In a last desperate attempt she deepened their kiss, savoring everything she could in this final moment, but a sudden snap of energy sent her reeling back against the bed. Lizzie watched as Fred vanished in a flash of green light.

Breathing heavily, she looked over at the empty mirror. "Well, it worked, but when you get back here, Fred this habit of kissing me and leaving is over." She shut her eyes and fell back against her pillows. "Please have ended up in the right place."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **I'm starting to think this story should be labeled romance/humor, instead of romance/angst. Haha. By the way, in a few chapters the rating to this will change to M. I dedicate the madness to my awesome beta reader and friend, **Halo4anoose** (GO READ HER SEXY FRED FANFIC AND LEAVE A REVIEW!) haha Thank you to everyone for continuing to read and review this fic, too.

****Disclaimer: **I still don't own Fred and I certainly don't own the song "Little Bunny Foo Foo." (And since it's a song from a folklore and the writer of that is unknown, I can't credit them.) I only own the crazy OC's running amok in this chapter, or perhaps they own me?

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**Chapter Seven**

Fred appeared in a ball of green light careening out of control, smacking against trees and ricocheting off walls. He was an unstoppable blur and only seemed to gain momentum with each crash, until finally colliding with the side of park statue. The slam triggered Fred to pop back into his human form and he fell with flailing arms and onto his back.

Lying there on the purple grass, Fred groaned and realized he was again in the world where all imaginary friends existed. His plan had worked, but as he remembered what he'd done to get here a pained sensation flooded his chest. He could still feel her against his lips and shuddered at the way it'd felt being torn away from her.

That kiss had been better than their first one and Fred couldn't believe the way her mouth had responded to his so filled with some sort of need he didn't quite understand. He closed his eyes and fought to steady his breath. He needed to get moving. The sooner he got his answers, the sooner he could know Lizzie would be alright and he could get back to work as Natalie's imaginary friend.

Fred stood and frowned, some part of him wanting to drag this out just so he might get a bit more time with Lizzie, but he had a Nat Brat to take care of and Lizzie had a life to live.

"Why do I have to be so bloody noble?" he muttered, beginning his trek for the city headquarters. If he'd had better control over his stolen powers he'd have teleported himself closer, but he supposed a bit of a walk would give him time to sort out what he was going to say. He just hoped they would be lenient and not too nosy.

Fred's eyes wandered around the city. Everything still looked as it always had – strange. The buildings didn't even look like buildings. They were oddly colored, twisted, and random. Some weren't even solid. A few of them were actually made out of clouds, others were made out of candy, some were castles constructed out of shoes, others were tree houses with snow globes or igloos atop them as the house, and one building was even a giant hollowed out doll's head. Fred remembered Namby Pampy had lived in a giant tea kettle with its own tutu, but unlike everyone else he was one of the few to never make his own home.

Fred had never really cared for this world, which didn't have a name because imaginary friends never bothered to worry about such details. For him, it was so boring when everyone around you could do the same tricks as you, which made Fred love being around humans so much more. There were so many more possibilities when only one person could see you and no one could fight back.

Murmurs and whispers suddenly filled the air and Fred took notice to the odd gazes he was drawing from nearby imaginary friends. It looked as though someone had photocopied an expression and glued it onto every one of their faces. All of them were terrified, and as he passed, more and more of them popped away to hide in their homes. This was definitely not like he remembered it.

Fred gulped and walked faster, glancing suspiciously at the reactions. What was wrong with them? He hurried up the steps to the giant ship, which served as the headquarters for imaginary friends, and ducked inside. A group of ten imaginary friends gasped at his arrival, stopping Fred in his tracks.

For a moment he expected the usual excited welcome, but it seemed all of them had taken on the same frightened stares as those outside. He shifted with unease.

"Uh, hello… I'm back," he said cracking a smile, but it died as he saw them all fidget and bunch together like a pack of scared animals. Not a one of them would make eye contact with him and Fred's anxiety escalated.

"What, can't say hello to ol' Drop Dead Fred?" He chuckled nervously, but one of the females whimpered and took off running from the room. The hall quickly echoed with her hysterical sobs and Fred shrank back, feeling a knot the size of his fist form inside his stomach.

His mouth twisted up in a nervous smile at the others. "Guess it was all too much for her?" Worry denoted on his face.

"Drop Dead Fred?" a voice deep called from behind him.

Fred turned around to find a large man, nearly twice the size as him, with what looked like a children's mobile protruding from the top of his scalp. Little pink and yellow bunny rabbits dangled off it and slowly circled in a near-hypnotizing display.

"Are you Drop Dead Fred?" the man repeated.

Fred blinked. "Of course I am." He couldn't stop looking at this man's headgear and all other concerns were momentarily forgotten. "You know, for such a big fellow, you have awfully strange taste in hats. Doesn't that thing ever make you sick with all that spinning?" He twirled his finger for emphasis and cocked his head.

The giant growled with displeasure and glared at Fred. "This is exactly what they warned me about with you."

"Who did? Your bunnies?" Fred leaned back in awe.

"No. This has nothing to with my bunnies." He grit his teeth in an attempt to control his temper.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Pffft. You sound in a mood."

"My shoe is bigger than you. I would shut up."

"Well please do because I'm starting to regret we ever talked."

"Silence!" the giant boomed. "I have a job to do here, you annoying little man."

Fred jumped, and took a quiet second look at the large man. He might have just made a huge mistake opening his mouth and he mentally begged that this man wasn't one of his bosses.

The giant sighed. "I'm here to tell you that you've been granted access to the room." He motioned with his eyes to the giant green door with gold trim.

Fred looked at the door and felt nothing but dread. "Through there? …But no imaginary friend's ever been invited in there."

"Guess you must've done something extra special, then," the giant answered with a mocking smirk. His mobile turned faster and began to play the tune of "Little Bunny Foo Foo." Fred's eyes widened and he suddenly didn't feel so well.

This meant they had been expecting him, whoever they were. No one went in there. What did they plan to do with him? How much did they know?

"I would hurry if I were you, little man," the giant added.

Fred gulped. His legs felt ready to give out on him, but he forced himself nearer to the door. Gasps from the formerly silent welcome committee erupted behind him. Fred turned to find them still huddled together and their gazes whipped away from his direction.

"What? Am I that ugly? Am I the village leper? What is it?" he cried in a release of panic.

The silent welcome committee only stepped away in unison, but the giant had more to say.

"Fred?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck, little man." He smiled with genuine sympathy for him, and a sadness glinted his eyes.

Fred's gaze softened, but the sudden niceness told him the giant obviously knew something he didn't and that made his fears grow worse. He was definitely in trouble with whoever waited inside that room.

Nodding, he politely returned a nervous, yet thankful smile to the giant and looked up at the waiting door. Fred closed his eyes, and forced himself to lean into it. His body easily sifted through it like a spirit as he stepped through to the other side. Doors never physically opened in this world, there was no need. Their purpose was more decorative than anything. Fred was just grateful to see he still had the ability to use one.

"Ah, Drop Dead Fred," said a disembodied voice. "Having trouble we presume?"

In a blink, three beings popped before him inside the empty room, two male and one female. Fred had never seen them before and they were uncomfortably close as if to make up for lost time. He tried to back up, but found there wasn't much space, like the room had shrunk just to trap him.

"We see you got our invitation," spoke the taller man standing in the middle. He sipped a cup of tea. "I'm Yang, and this is Yin." He pointed to the much paler and darker haired woman to his right.

Fred eyed the two clearly Caucasian individuals before him and wrinkled his brow. "Like the symbol?

"Yes, and no," said Yang. "We hold no affiliation to it, only that our actions influence the destinies of imaginary friends and yadda yadda yadda."

"You're gods, then?" Fred asked, looking them over.

"No," said Yang. "We're completely independent from any and all other religions, myths, or whatever else there is. I can never keep up."

"Independent?" asked Fred, finding this man hard to follow.

"Yes," the three answered at once.

"Is that some sort of bullshit way of saying you didn't make the cut or something?" Fred exclaimed.

"I told you not to tell him all that. See, now he's upset," said the unidentified second man in the room. "Look, don't blame me," he told Fred, "It was _his_ fault they rejected us." He pointed at Yang.

"379 times…" muttered Yin with a roll of her eyes.

"It's in the past," Yang insisted, lifting his teacup for a drink.

"The 379th happened yesterday," Yin shot out, bitterly.

"Still in the past," Yang replied matter-of-factly. "Now where were we? Oh yes, I'm Yang, she's Yin, and—"

"And those aren't even their real names," muttered the unnamed man.

"Well, we can't give him those, then he'll know too much and follow us everywhere," answered Yang.

"Fine. Then I want to be Bob," he argued.

Yin sighed. "Fine, then be Bob. I don't care."

Bob smiled.

"Are you serious?" Fred asked. These were the ones in charge of imaginary friends? They were more deranged than he was.

"Oh great!" Bob cried. "He's confused now and it's your fault. You see that daft look in his eyes?"

"Now, now," chided Yin with a playful smile on her face. "It's more fun that way, and thank you. You know I love the credit." She grinned, delightedly.

"Oh, this tea is so good. I must thank myself for pouring it," said Yang, sipping some more and smiling as he savored the taste.

"And why do you never share that with us?" asked Bob, crossing his arms, dejectedly. "You only ever talk about how amazing it is…"

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?!" Fred shouted. "What in the hell did you rejects of ALL myth invite me in for? Do you even know what's happening to me?!"

The three rejected gods silenced. Yang glared at Fred and loudly slurped his tea.

"I want some answers!"

"We know," said Yin.

"You think you're sick," said Bob.

Fred blinked. So they did know something. Maybe he and Lizzie had some hope still after all. "Well, am I?" he asked.

"We cannot discern that until we learn some more of what's taking place," Yang answered. He took another slurp of his tea and smiled. "Oh, this is so delicious!"

That answer only managed to make Fred even more confused than he previously had been. "But… you knew I was coming. Isn't that why you sent the giant and his unwelcome committee for me?" He pointed back at the door.

"No," said Bob. "Do you think we watch everything you do?" He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "We have lives you know."

Fred grabbed his head and almost screamed, but he suddenly had an idea what they might be doing. They couldn't be that daft. This was some sort of a trap. They wanted him to admit things, and he really didn't feel like wasting time and getting himself in trouble when all he wanted to do was help Lizzie. He closed his eyes a moment and reminded himself he was doing this for her; he'd made her a promise.

Fred sighed and stomped the ground. "Fine. Something's been happening to me… and the girl I looked after before the friend I keep now."

"The one before?" interjected Yin, tilting her head. "You mean you remember her?"

Fred noticed the surprising level of interest in their gazes and panic rose within him. He suddenly realized they hadn't intentionally left him with his memories of Lizzie and he really hoped they wouldn't try to remedy that. "Entirely," he answered with hesitation.

All three of them tensed in surprise, and Yin shot a cold stare at her counterpart.

"Yang, did you forget to wipe his memory?"

"Of course not!" He waved his hand and materialized a floating open ledger, pointing to a recent entry. "See, look here. 'Cast magic to reset Drop Dead Fred's memories.'" The ledger disappeared and all of them turned their gazes back on Fred.

"The magic didn't work," Yin breathed, eyeing him carefully. "Fred, what sorts of things have been happening to you?"

Fred swore the room shrank once again, but he was glad there were no mentions of trying to recast the memory wipe spell. "I… Well…" Their gazes made things harder to come clean about. "Oh, come off it! You already know I think I'm sick!" he shouted.

Yin produced a wooden staff and rapped Fred on the head with it.

"Ow! Witch! What the hell?!" he cried, grabbing the top of his head and pulling back.

"Interesting. It hurts him," she pondered aloud.

"Interesting? Piss off!"

Yin smirked and raised the staff again. "Behave yourself, or I'll do worse!" Her eyes slanted in a threat, despite the smile on her lips.

"She means well," said Yang.

Yin giggled, but immediately returned her cold gaze at Fred as though the happier expression had never happened. Fred admitted he was a little creeped out by this one.

Yang sighed. "Yes, Fred, we know you've lost some of your powers. It shows."

"Shows?" he asked, glancing down at himself.

"He hasn't noticed?" whispered Bob to the others. "This is so fun. Can I tell him?"

"No, I won the straw grab," said Yang.

Fred didn't know if he was more frightened by the news he was about to receive or of these three beings who held his and Lizzie's fate in their hands.

"What haven't I noticed?" Fred asked, softly.

Yang's eyes shone with the sympathy he held for Fred. "The 'unwelcome committee,' as you put it, was afraid of you."

"Afraid of me? Why? I'm Drop Dead Fred, everyone loves me here."

"They were afraid of you because they couldn't quite see you."

"Can't see me?" Fred glanced down at himself again, then back to the three. "What the hell do you mean? I can see myself just fine!"

"Of course you can, but to the other imaginary friends you've gone somewhat see through." Yang sipped more of his tea and gave him an apologetic stare.

"I've gone what?"

"You've gone ghostly," said Yang.

"I'm disappearing?"

"No." Yang chuckled. "You're just sorta becoming a ghost to us."

"Then, I'm dying?"

"No, no," Yang assured with a smile, which faded as he slipped in his addition of, "not yet."

Fred's face visibly paled and he stumbled back. A sick feeling bubbled in the pit of his stomach, making him woozy.

Yin reached out and took Fred's hand, deciding she needed to explain this before the others made this any worse. They could be idiots sometimes and Yang was often forgetful of using the right words.

"Fred, you're not dying," she said. "You're just fading away from this world. You're not quite…" She paused not sure how to phrase this to him. Fred was very excitable and unpredictable. "You're not quite a full imaginary friend anymore."

"Then what am I?" Fred's eyes revealed his fear.

Yang spoke, "That's what we'd like to find out. You're not exactly one of us, but you've got properties of them."

"Them who?" asked Fred.

"Humans, Fred. Your being's somehow taken on mortal traits. Right now, you're somehow caught between both worlds, which is why you can still be here with us now."

Fred dropped to his knees, mouth agape. They couldn't be serious?

Yin tapped her fingers upon her staff. "Did something happen which might have caused this? Something you've done differently?"

Fred looked nervously up at them. "No!"

"Defensive. Interesting," Yin quipped.

"I knew I should have brewed more tea," said Yang.

Bob rolled his eyes and looked at Fred. "If you want any of us to help you, you need tell us the truth."

Fred lowered his gaze and fidgeted. If he'd had a pulse he was sure it would be racing at the moment. This was the part he'd been most afraid of revealing and he winced as he spoke, bracing for the worst.

"When I left Lizzie—"

"Who?" interrupted Bob.

"Snotface. You know, Elizabeth Cronin. The crazy grown up with the imaginary friend."

Yin smirked. "Ah yes, the one whose mother locked you up in that jack-in-the-box."

Fred sneered. "Yeah, her!" Of _course_ they knew that part! His hand rested on his hip as he griped inwardly about the memory of that dreaded box. That spring clown had been no company.

"Well, get on with the rest," urged Bob.

Fred sighed. "When we said goodbye… I… I asked her to kiss me, and… she did." He grimaced, afraid to lift his eyes to face the others. Strangely they pulled into a huddle and began whispering amongst each other. Fred eavesdropped as best he could.

"He kissed her? I was sure he found that too disgusting to ever try."

"This is your fault."

"How is it my fault?"

"You created him in the first place and now he's defective."

"Oh shut up."

"What are we gonna do? This is just like Pantsless Francis…"

"And that one didn't end well."

"No, that was a tragedy."

Fred stood back up, and couldn't hold his patience any longer. "I can hear you, you know! What happened before? What tragedy?"

Yin reached out and smacked both Bob and Yang on the backs of their heads. "This is why we need a private conference room." Gathering her composure, she turned to Fred. "Pantless Francis was the only other imaginary friend to remain with an adult. He ended up falling in love with her and decided to kiss her. The action triggered his being to start giving up his powers, but… failed in making him human."

Yang cleared his throat, hoping to not get into what specifically happened to Francis. "What made you kiss her, Fred? You know that's forbidden between an imaginary friend and their human companion, that that's why we leave them before they're grown. Why'd you even stay to begin with?"

Fred's eyes widened and he didn't like the direction this way taking. What was going to happen to him? What exactly happened to this other imaginary friend? The word tragedy wouldn't leave his mind. "I…It was just a sweet goodbye, that's it, and I only stayed because I was kinda stuck with her after what happened! I didn't know she'd been grown up when I popped out of the box! I had no choice! I—"

Yin smacked him on the head again with her staff, effectively silencing Fred as he fell back on his heels. "You had a choice. You could've come back here and informed us of the matter and we would've separated you. What you've done now has only complicated the situation. No wonder the memory spell didn't work!"

Fred winced and balanced himself. "How would a kiss prevent a spell from working?"

"You love sick, idiot," Yin hissed.

"I am not!"

"Shut up!" she yelled back. "The only way that spell wouldn't work is if something was more powerful than it. You fell in love with this Lizzie, a very REAL emotion. Something that real can't be overturned by magic. That real feeling is what's changing your imaginary form!"

Fred almost fell over. Until now he hadn't realized what these feelings toward Lizzie had been. He did love her. He loved her more than anything, and the depth both overwhelmed and frightened him.

"Then what's gonna happen to me? Am I gonna end up like Pantless Francis?" he asked.

Yin's gaze softened. "If what you say is true of your symptoms, you've only a matter of time unless something alters your course."

"A matter of time before what?"

The three before him looked worriedly at one another before Yin chose to approach him. She was careful to make eye contact, her tone was nothing but serious.

"Fred if you don't resolve this you won't be connected to either world. You'll be exiled, alone and no one will be able to see or hear you."

Fred shook his head. "But, you said I'm part imaginary and human. How does that banish me from both worlds?"

It was Yin's turn to shake her head. "The more magic you lose, the less imaginary you'll be, which will bar you from this world. Nothing can exist here without magic."

"But won't my human traits leave me in the real world? Maybe even turn me human?" he asked with some desperate hope in his eyes. "I bet I'm better than whoever this Francis was."

Yang sighed sadly. "You won't exist there either because you won't be human enough to have a physical form. Your only connection to that world is your magic and whichever human you attach to, so without it you'll simply disappear, trapped in some isolated Limbo."

"But… Lizzie has my magic. She somehow got it after we kissed. How can I fade away if it's with her?"

All of them turned their heads in surprise.

"That never happened in the Francis case," Bob said.

"No, it didn't and it raises some possibilities," said Yin.

"Tell us, Fred," said Yang, "what's been happening with Lizzie?"

Fred felt some hope in hearing his situation might be a little different. "She's sick. I think. Her emotions somehow tap into my powers, so it's all random and unpredictable. She's teleported both herself and me, but it makes her weak."

"How?"

"She's lost consciousness." Fred lowered his eyes, guilt flooding him. His eyes threatened him with tears and he was completely unaware about what Yin, Yang, and Bob were doing.

The three reached out to Fred's mind with their own, searching for the rest of the details to fully understand all that had happened. They also used this moment to tap into Lizzie's consciousness for even more information. The link between them was excessively strong.

"Please, isn't there anything I can do for her?" Fred whispered, his body shaking.

The three of them smiled at what they found.

"This is certainly a very different case than Pantless Francis," Yang said.

"Then I can fix it?" asked Fred, standing up with renewed hope.

The others shared a look, somehow making a decision about Fred without needing to verbally confer.

"Maybe. Pantless Francis didn't have the love of his human, not like you do."

Fred almost fell over. "You mean, Snotface loves me?" A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"Who knew a Snotface could be that demented," quipped Bob.

"Piss off," said Fred, making a face at him. Bob made one back.

"Children, stop it!" chided Yin.

"Yes, not before tea time," added Yang.

"It's not tea time when you're the only one of us having tea!" shouted Bob.

Yin lifted her arms. "Enough of this!" Every one shut up. "Fred, Lizzie having your magic is what's pulling you to her. It's why she can still connect with you even though you're no longer her imaginary friend… and that might just be the cure for your sickness."

Fred perked up with interest. "How's that?"

"We'll get to that in a minute," said Yang. "I want him to apologize first." He pointed at Bob.

"What? Go fuck yourself, you tea cozy," Bob spat.

Yin growled. She decided to just ignore them and destroy all the tea later to end this eternal argument. "Fred, you will no longer be Natalie Bunce's imaginary friend. You will return to Elizabeth Cronin until this matter is resolved, or unresolved, whatever you choose."

While Fred surged with joy over the idea of returning to Lizzie, he wasn't too keen on leaving Natalie behind. "But, I promised Nat Brat I'd be there for her. She's not ready yet for me to leave her." He remembered his promise to her very clearly.

"Won't matter. She'll see you," said Yin, smiling.

"But you said I'm not to be her imaginary friend."

"No, but you'll see her."

Fred's eyes narrowed. "What exactly am I going back to do?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: This chapter the rating is changing to M, you can guess why**. :P I decided to break this up into two chapters because of the length.

Thank you to all my silent readers out there I see stopping by, and for the people who leave me reviews. :D Those really mean the world to me and help me want to continue. I hope you enjoy this.

**Halo4anoose:** Here's some of your smut! :P Thank you for beta reading. (Everyone read her fic, lol)

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Fred, just insanity.

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**Chapter Eight**

Lizzie found herself in a strange place, reminiscent in feeling to the world Fred had taken her to face her fears, but with a much colder vibe.

This was a large and empty room, white-walled and completely square. There were no doors or windows, and despite its clearly visible ends, it all seemed to go on forever with lighting that had no discernible source and a ceiling that expanded into blackness overhead.

An uneasy feeling crept up inside Lizzie. "Where the hell am I?" she whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. The last thing she remembered she had been fast asleep in her bed, having a normal dream about eating waffles, which had somehow turned into her walking down the aisle to marry Fred… Her heart skipped.

"Oh crap! I'm sleep teleporting now?"

"Not exactly," said a random and disembodied female voice.

Lizzie jumped, accidentally taking a step from her place in the center of the room. The wall behind her literally followed with a loud, heavy scrape along the ground, and she watched wide-eyed as its opposite wall fell away like someone had pulled a piece from a Jenga game.

A low rumbling started and the ground lurched, dropping Lizzie to her knees with a shout. The flooring then twisted like a Rubik's Cube toward the wall on her right and clicked into place as it triggered the walls to reset like a strange and demented puzzle.

Lizzie shook and curled her fingers against the black and white checkered tiles, fighting to catch her breath. Right now she really wished Fred would appear to get her the hell out of here and remove his magical powers from her before she strangled him. She felt very vulnerable and alone without him, and if this was part of the world he came from, she decided it explained a lot about his "sanity."

"I feel like I'm in a funhouse…" she muttered.

"You have a very boring view of a funhouse," replied the disembodied voice. "Seems a bit lacking in décor…"

Lizzie pushed herself back to her feet, unfortunately taking another step which caused the room to repeat its hellish cycle. She braced herself and planted her feet as the flooring jarred back to the left and brought her face to face with a dark-haired woman showing off a smile and a cup of tea.

"Hello, Elizabeth."

Lizzie screamed so hard she almost lost her balance. "Oh shit! …Where did you? What… Who… who are you?" Her eyes widened as she noticed two men sitting bound and gagged on the floor behind the woman. "What the HELL is going on?!"

The dark-haired beauty smiled. "I'm Yin, _this_ is a box, and those two idiots behind me are my associates. Ignore them. They've been placed on timeout. Just think of them as carry-on luggage."

"Uh…" Lizzie's face ticked as she tried to take this all in, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to. She could hear the man on the right mumbling something under his gag, prompting Yin to materialize a staff out of nowhere and rap him on the head.

"Shhh…" Yin hushed, holding the tip of the staff to her lips. "This is my vacation. I'll not have you ruin it." She smiled wickedly and made the staff disappear before turning back to Lizzie. "It's my teatime now." She lifted the teacup and took a loud sip, but her eyes widened in shock and she spat the drink back out.

"Oh my God, Yang!" she shouted, whipping around to the man on the left, who was clearly laughing under his gag. "_This_ is what you've been on about for all these years? This isn't even tea, you half-assed Hatter! It's vodka and cranberry juice!"

The man laughed harder and mumbled something behind the cloth. Furious, Yin marched over and yanked down the gag.

"What was that?"

Yang looked at her in seriousness for all of two seconds before a smug grin overtook his face. "Why do you think I've looked so happy all these years?"

Some sort of indefinable noise erupted from Yin and she stared at him as though she might maul him. "3,000 years and you couldn't SHARE?!"

"That wouldn't have been more fun than this moment," he answered, flashing the proudest, most overjoyed smile that could ever exist. The other man kicked him, causing Yang to twist around at his attacker. "Fuck off, Bob!" he shouted. "You know I don't like your feet!" Bob kicked him again and the two began a kicking war.

Yin's anger was about to pop her eyes from their sockets. Growling, she spun back to Lizzie. "Could you do me a favor and step to your left. Just a bit."

Lizzie worriedly shook her head. The insanity level of these people had her longing for the mildness of Fred's. "Um, I, uh, don't think that's such a good idea." She glanced around at the walls.

"Oh, it is. Trust me."

Lizzie gulped, wondering why the hell she was about to trust this woman, but she certainly didn't want to piss her off so she sidestepped to the left. The room and walls instantly shifted in response, only this time in a far different manner, as a fifth wall erected between Yin and the two men, dividing them into separate rooms.

"There," Yin said. "Now we can have some privacy."

Lizzie blinked. "Privacy for _what_?" Being alone with this woman did not seem safe.

"To discuss your little situation, of course. Why else would I bring you here?"

Lizzie's breath caught. "Then... Then you know about the magic?" An anxious feeling rose inside her. "Where's Fred? Did he speak to you?"

"Fred's not coming," Yin answered, as though she knew Lizzie's real question. "I've sent him back to your world. He'll be there waiting for you when we're done here. I've already had my little chat with him about this."

"Then, why couldn't he just tell me everything himself?"

"Because Fred tends to get a bit distracted with the details and this is a tad too complex to be skimmed over." Yin drank from the teacup and winced as it went down.

A sudden tinge of fear shot through Lizzie. "Oh God… I-I'm not turning into an imaginary friend or something weird like that, am I?"

"Oh no, of course not. Imaginary friends are beings created solely to be just that. You can't become one. A human would die trying to be turned and we don't like death. That's kind of why I'm here to talk to you."

Lizzie gulped, but nodded with curiosity. "Alright, I'm listening."

Yin snapped her fingers and the teacup vanished from her other hand. "This is about Fred's magic, which is actually quite dangerous for you to have, Elizabeth. I'm afraid if you don't get rid of it you'll be dead within a week's time from the toll it's taking on your body."

"Whoa, wait! DEAD?!" Lizzie could feel all the color leaving her skin. "Like, DEAD, dead?"

"I didn't know there was more than one kind," Yin said with a puzzled expression.

"Oh my God…" Lizzie held her head and tried to breathe. "Then… Well… H-How do I give it back to Fred?"

The corner of Yin's mouth twitched. "You can't."

"So you're saying there's no fix?"

"I didn't say that. Of course there's a fix. I only said you can't give it back to Fred."

Lizzie furrowed her brow. "Then, what _are_ you saying?"

"I'm saying Fred's magic is stuck unless a certain task is performed to expel it from your body."

"What, like some sort of ritual?"

Yin twisted up her mouth in thought. "You might call it that."

A sudden terrible thought occurred to Lizzie and she wrapped her arms around herself. "What's gonna happen to Fred? He can't be an imaginary friend if he doesn't have magic."

"That is true." Yin nodded. "His life is in just as much danger as yours, but that too is fixable."

Lizzie exhaled loudly. "This is all making me feel a bit sick," she said. She could feel her pulse going into overdrive.

"Which is why I brought you here. It was obvious you'd get a bit overwhelmed and the lovely thing about imaginary friend powers is they seem to be well contained in boxes." Yin lifted her eyes to look around the room.

Lizzie straightened and blinked. "Wait, you really _did_ put me in a box?"

"Yes, but I promise it's well-meaning," replied Yin. "I couldn't have you popping off or worsening your condition during our little talk. This place prevents you from tapping into Fred's power. It's a very familiar box, too," she added. "It's the one Fred got trapped in for all those years. I can see why he hated it."

Lizzie found it getting incredibly hard to stand. "_This_ is the jack-in-the-box my mother… I'm _in_ the jack-in-the-box?!"

Yin smiled. "Yes, well in a sense. See, while Fred was in here, this is what he saw, being lost and powerless to return to you."

"But this… this doesn't even make sense! How can _this_ exist inside it?" Lizzie threw her arms out in exasperation. She just wanted something to start making sense again before she completely lost her grip on reality.

"Does it need to make sense? Fred being ripped away from you left him in a state of perpetual limbo between your world and his. He couldn't leave because he was still bound to you."

Lizzie's eye widened as her chest suddenly heaved from an immense weight washing over her. "How come he just couldn't use his magic to pop out?"

"It's too complicated to explain to a human. I'll just say he was temporarily banished because you let your mother become stronger than he was."

Lizzie hugged herself tighter, imagining what it must have been like in here for Fred. What he must have been thinking and feeling and how he must have felt the day he finally got out only to find her all grown up. It nearly brought her to tears. "What are you?" she asked Yin. "Are you an imaginary friend, too?"

"No. I'm one of the reasons Fred exists. I helped create him."

"So, you're some sort of god?"

Yin paused. This question was beginning to feel like a slap to the face. _Oh, what the hell? _she thought.

"Yes, and I'm in charge of all imaginary friends." A broad smile lit her face and Lizzie drew in a deep breath.

"Wow. Okay…" She pressed her fingertips to both sides of her head as she tried to digest all of it. "So, what do I have to do to stop this? How did this even happen?"

Yin sighed. "The answer to your last question is simple. You fell in love with Fred. You wanted to keep a part of him in your heart, which you basically did. Literally."

Lizzie's eyes widened. "You're serious? I… Wait, how do you even know how I feel about Fred? I've never said I loved him."

Yin gave Lizzie a pointed stare. "I'm a god. Magical powers and all that."

Lizzie's heart leapt and she was rendered speechless. How long had she been spying on her private thoughts? Was she doing it now? She eyed her suspiciously, feeling very exposed, but she was right. She did love Fred…

She'd realized that the moment he'd told her she had to go back without him, and when he'd asked her to kiss him she had put every ounce of strength she had into not revealing it. That moment had killed her, and she'd been trying to ignore her feelings ever since so it would stop breaking her heart.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked up at Yin.

The dark-haired 'god' flicked a piece of lint from her sleeve. "In answer to that next question swimming about in your head, you can't give Fred back his magic because his love for you is what let you take it. Seems he really didn't want to leave you either."

"What?" Lizzie could only stare. "Fred? Drop Dead Fred? The guy who vomits when you mention romance and girly things… LOVES me?"

"I think he was just as surprised as you," Yin answered with a delighted smirk. She really loved her job today. "And he didn't vomit. Not even a gag. It was almost boring."

Breath-taken, Lizzie pressed her hands against her pounding heart. This was almost too good to be true, but last night made so much more sense now…

A crooked smile pulled at her lips. "I almost don't believe it…" she whispered. She was shaking all over.

Yin lifted a brow. "So you wanted to know this task you must do in order to save the both of you?"

Lizzie nodded. "Y-yes."

"You have to turn him human."

Lizzie felt a shock erupt and surge through her entire body. She swore she couldn't even feel her legs anymore. "What? Me? H-how am I suppose to do THAT?!"

"It's very simple really. Fred is already part human from you taking his magic, and you're somewhat part of what he was, however, in these half states you're both in, you're both too weak to do this without the other. Only a very powerful level of magic can change him human entirely. One I can't even conjure."

Lizzie felt her nerves rising again. "If you're not even strong enough to do it, then how the hell will he and I be able to?"

"Because, and this going to sound like your fairytales I know you loved so well," Yin said with sarcasm, as she knew what Lizzie's childhood had been like, "love is stronger than any other forms of magic. You're very lucky, really. If it weren't for that, and you taking his magic, both of you would have no chance for this to work."

Lizzie just gave Yin a blank stare before she could find the words. "You're shitting me!" This was the most unbelievable thing she had ever heard of, and more than she could have ever hoped for. Fred could be real? She was still trying to get past the fact that he could fall in love. There had to be a catch.

"No," Yin answered. "It's all very true."

Lizzie shook her head. "Wow… So, uh… what exactly are he and I suppose to do to make this all happen?"

Yin smiled. "Let me put it to you this way… Fred's magic, which you hold inside yourself, is sort of like a key to get Fred to your world, only he's without the means to turn that key without your help. You can only tap into his powers when your emotions act up and when that happens it brings Fred to you. This 'task' needs a crazy amount of power from the both of you to work, so much it would burn up the magic entirely once it's done. So… you tell me what you think would make both your feelings burn strong enough that it would pull Fred into reality and make him human…" She raised a suggestive eyebrow and Lizzie's jaw dropped.

"I have to have sex with him?!"

"Well, not if you don't want to," said Yin.

"Oh my God…" Lizzie's entire body heated, not just from embarrassment, but also the thought of getting to do that with Fred. "Are you seriously telling me to go have sex my ex-imaginary friend to make him human?" she asked.

"Darling, I think you might have a hearing problem. YES!"

Lizzie was shaking all over. She had thought about it before, and was definitely more than okay about being with Fred (not just because their lives were on the line), but now that it was actually going to happen she had several reservations springing to mind. Like, did he even know how? Was he at home thinking he _actually _had to peck her? Was she going to have to explain everything to him? Would he even want to? Was there going to be a dramatic mime show of watching Fred pretending vomit around the bedroom?

Lizzie looked back at Yin, wide-eyed. God, she was thankful she had shaved her legs the night before. "Does… Did you already tell him about this?"

Yin smiled and decided to have a bit of fun. "No. I left that part out when I spoke to him," she lied. "You'd better hurry, though. I can't say Fred will be patient on waiting for you to wake up."

Lizzie was about to speak when the buzzing screech of what sounded like an alarm clock filled the room. The magic staff rematerialized in Yin's hands and she used it to shove Lizzie back into something soft and springy.

Gasping, Lizzie shut her eyes from the blow and reopened them to find herself lying back on her bed inside her room. The sound of the alarm clock continued to blare in her ears and she looked down to find it waiting on her stomach, staring at her with the time: 12:13 p.m.

"What the hell?" she whispered. Had that all just been a dream? She fought to make her eyes focus on the clock. She hadn't set the damn thing, nor had she ever set it for that time.

Frazzled, she smacked the off switch and tossed the seemingly possessed clock back to the nightstand where it belonged; however, that's when she spotted the mismatched array of flowers still rooted in dirt clogs scattered over her bed.

Tensing, she scooted upright for a better look, but a wayward twig fell across her eyes and she plucked it from her hair. A limp daisy with missing petals was attached to the other end. Lizzie's eyes widened and a smile lit her face.

Whatever this was could only be the work of one person, and this was all the proof she needed to know her recent talk with Yin had not been a dream. Her pulse quickened and she scrambled from the bed.

"Fred?" she yelled.

There was no response, but Lizzie knew he had to be here. Somewhere…

Eagerly, she turned to look for him, but her foot landed on something wet. She stepped back to find a crumpled up bath towel and immediately shifted her gaze to the open bathroom door. Her towel from last night still hung neatly from the rack where she had left it. Lizzie's breath caught.

"Fred?"

He still didn't answer.

Suspicious, Lizzie snatched up the wet towel and crept into the bathroom. The mirrors were moist and fogged and a trail of water led straight to the shower.

Thanks to Yin's talk, Lizzie's body warmed from sudden thoughts of Fred on the other side, naked, wet, and waiting to pounce. Her breath quickened and she had to stop and remind herself this was Fred, who had no clue what this day had waiting for him. If he was in there at all it was more likely because he was set to spring some sort of trap.

Unfortunately for Lizzie, her first thought had rendered her delirious and she yanked back the curtain despite any possible consequences.

Her heart sank when she found it empty, but the droplets of water covering both the curtain and the walls told her he had definitely been here. The showerhead dripped from recent use and when she glanced downward she saw a few orange hairs beside the drain.

Turning on her heels, Lizzie dropped the towel and sped from the room, but skidded to a halt when she found what waited for her in the kitchen.

Set out on the counter was a plate of charred toast, slathered with butter, a bowl of soggy Cheerios buried beneath an overflowing mound of sugar, and a sticky glass of orange juice with more juice pooling around it than in it.

The phone rang and Lizzie practically hit the ceiling.

"Oh Jesus!" she shouted, her hand flying to her chest. "That couldn't have been timed more perfectly…" She rolled her eyes and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Lizzie? Hi, it's Mickey again. Sorry to keep calling so much…"

"Hi… Mickey… No, it's not a problem." Lizzie mentally swore. "Now's not really the best time, though… Did you need something?" she asked, unable to stop herself from anxiously glancing around at what she could see of her apartment. Where the hell was Fred hiding?

"Oh, well I'll try to make this quick then. I'm actually calling for Natalie."

Lizzie's full attention locked onto the conversation. "Natalie?"

"Yeah, she wants to talk to you. She's pretty upset about something. I've tried all morning to get her to come out of her room, but she absolutely refuses unless she gets to ask you something."

A sinking feeling told Lizzie it had to do with Fred. "D-did she happen to tell you what it's about?"

"Something about Drop Dead Fred. I don't really know all the details, but I'm kinda worried, especially after, well you know, what happened last night." He cleared his throat nervously. "She's rather heartbroken about whatever it is. Will you please talk to her?"

Lizzie's mouth was so dry, she could hardly answer. "Uh… Of course," she finally choked out.

"Great, hold on. I'll get her."

"'Kay."

The sound of the phone being set down crackled through the receiver and Lizzie's fingers curled and twisted into the phone cord as she tried to make her thoughts shut up. "Shit!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe I forgot about Natalie." What the hell was she suppose to tell her about Fred?

Rustling sounded on the other end of the phone, and Natalie's little voice followed before she could form a plan.

"Lizzie?"

"Hi, sweetie!" she shouted in response and smacked herself in the forehead. _Calm the fuck down, Lizzie_, she thought. "So, uh, your dad said you have something to ask me."

"Yeah… Has Fred made it to your house yet?"

Lizzie blanched. How much did Natalie know? "I… Well, I think so. He seems to be playing a game of hide and seek right now," she said, taking another look around the room. "What exactly did Fred say to you this morning?"

Natalie's voice shook. "He said he had to go away because he couldn't be my imaginary friend anymore because he had to go take care of you. Then he wiped snot on my dolls and left me here with Go to Hell Herman. He smells like fire."

Lizzie's mouth opened and closed a few times before she had any intelligible response. "Go to Hell Herman?" she asked. "Where do they get these names?" she muttered under her breath. She suddenly remembered the time at the doctor's office when Fred had been playing with his friends. She really had thought he was just being insane at the time… "Um—"

"But Fred _promised_ us we could talk to him when he got there. Please, Lizzie? Me and Herman are worried and _have_ to make sure he's okay."

"Um, Natalie, I'm gonna have to call you and, uh… Herman back. I think I need to find Fred first."

"Promise?" she asked, voice quivering.

"I promise." Lizzie smiled. "And I know Fred always keeps his promises, so I know you're gonna hear from him." She paused as she remembered what she and Fred had to do. "But probably in a few hours after, uh… I have a long chat with him." A blush warmed her face.

"Okay. Thanks, Lizzie. I don't know why Fred always said you were such a Snotface. Oh, and Herman says that you'd better take care of Fred since he decided to turn into a delicate flower." Natalie giggled. "Herman, Fred's not a plant!"

Lizzie found herself laughing along with Natalie. "Um… You're welcome and I'll do my best with him, I promise. I'll call you both back soon." She lowered the phone, half in a daze over what was happening when someone suddenly yanked on the back of her hair.

Lizzie shrieked and spun around, raising the phone high to strike whoever it was, but a strong hand caught her by the wrist.

"Surprise!" Fred shouted. Lizzie yelped and dropped the phone, leaving it to dangle on the cord as she stared at him in shock. He grinned excitedly and shoved his face in front of hers. "'Ello, Snotface!"

"Oh my God, you scared the shit outta me!" she cried.

Fred snorted. "Yeah, that's not all I've come back to get out of you," he remarked, bouncing a little and wriggling his hips. His gaze quickly disconnected from hers, which Lizzie was too busy blushing to notice. "Miss me?" he asked, grinning again.

Lizzie just stared at him in shock. After everything she had just gone through and had learned it was impossible to even find the words to answer that question.

"What, you gone deaf or something?" Fred asked. "I said, 'DID YOU MISS ME?'" he shouted.

Lizzie still didn't have an answer. She just flung her arms around Fred and clung to him. "Shut up," she choked out, closing her eyes and reveling in the feel of him against her.

Fred hesitated a moment, but wrapped his own arms tightly back around her. He could feel her shaking and it left him nervous and unsure of what to say— He didn't like that at all— but when Lizzie squeezed him harder and sighed he gently lowered his face against her shoulder to breathe her in.

The feeling it produced inside him ignited a shiver and Lizzie's warm breath hitting his neck was working on igniting something else. His breath quickened and he wished somehow he could pull her even closer, tell her he loved her, and just skip all the ruddy explanations, but he remembered very clearly how important this romance muck was to her, though… and he wanted to make it special.

Lizzie's hands slid up to Fred's wet hair, her fingers gently curling through it. Her touch had his eyes rolling back into his head. If this was what "shutting up" brought he would gladly do it anytime she wanted; anything she asked. He was never going to let her go again, even when she told him to piss off.

The damp hair suddenly clicked with Lizzie's mind and she pushed back from him with a curious look. "Fred, did you take shower?"

"No!" he shouted defensively.

"Then why are you wet?" She tried hard not to grin.

"Wet? Do I look wet?"

"Your hair does."

Fred reached up and touched his head. _Damn._ He rolled his eyes. "Oh fine! I was fiddling with it because I was bored and I fell in."

"Uh huh…" Lizzie said, leaning forward and giving him a sniff. "Care to tell me why you're wearing my ex-husband's cologne?"

"No!" he said. "I mean…" He snorted and tried to look insulted. "…this is how I always stink." He pulled at the lapels of his jacket. "And I don't smell like him! Are your nostrils broken? I'm Fred, not Bastard!" He rolled his eyes again and sneered. If she kept up this nosy Nancy Drew act it was going to ruin all he had planned.

Lizzie bit the inside of her cheek to force back her laugh. Seeing Fred trying so hard to impress her without yet admitting his feelings was both the sweetest and most genuine gesture she had ever received. Part of her wanted to admit to him she already knew, but a more playful side was curious to see how he planned to handle this, and how long she could poke at him before he would spill everything to her…

She narrowed her gaze. "Fred, what's going on? Are you trying to romance me or something?"

"Romance you?" His voice pitched higher. "Don't be gross." He shoved his finger up his nose and smeared a bit of snot on Lizzie's cheek. She choked and reached up to wipe it off her face.

"Charming," she replied.

Fred's face fell to a pouty expression. "I was only trying to look nice for you, that's all. You had a rough night. I wanted to help you have a good morning." He smiled softly, making Lizzie practically melt, until his unpredictable energy shifted the mood.

"Hey, I made ya some breakfast!" he shouted, pointing to the counter and hopping over to the meal. "I could've made something else, but I know how you don't like me touching things that make fire…" Fred felt his face warming uncomfortably and he hurried to change the subject. "AND I've got a great game planned for later and something really _big_ I think you've been waiting for!"

Lizzie about died from that last statement. "Um, uh…" Suddenly all she could think of was a very specific big surprise and her eyes wandered down to the front of his pants. "That… sounds amazing," she said, her heart pounding. Fred was making her such a pervert.

Clearing her throat, she lifted her gaze back to his and watched as his eyes suddenly focused on the top her head. Lizzie's brow furrowed and Fred reached out to pluck a petal from her hair. Scrunching his nose like he were disgusted at its contact, he shook it from his fingers. Lizzie laughed.

"So, you're back?" she asked, suggestively raising her eyebrows and biting her lip.

Fred leaned in close to her and whispered, "Can you see me?"

Lizzie gave him an odd look. "Yeah…"

"Then I'm obviously back!" he said, matter-of-factly and rolling his eyes. He bounced on his heels and strutted around the counter. Reaching up, he smacked the overhanging pots and pans and proceeded to drum his fingers along the countertops.

Lizzie shook her head, but couldn't wipe away her smile. "Okay, so why did you leave Natalie?"

"Leave who?" he asked.

"Natalie. You know. Little blonde girl you hung babysitters from trees with."

"Oh, _herrr_." Fred chuckled and flipped his hand back with a bounce. His expression turned disinterested after that. "Yeah, well, to be honest she wasn't very fun. She always wanted to do 'grownup things.' Far too mature for me, so I left. Is it warm in here?"

"She's six, Fred."

Fred turned and started fidgeting with more things about the kitchen. He picked up a wooden spoon and smacked Lizzie's cookie jar, producing a loud clang. Unimpressed, he flung the spoon over his shoulder and into the sink.

"Um, Fred?" Lizzie raised an eyebrow, but he didn't seem to hear her. He was too busy flipping on and off the kitchen faucet and randomly opening and slamming drawers.

"Fred!" she shouted, her patience suddenly wearing thin. She flung her arm out to block him before he ripped open another drawer. Fred halted.

"She's a very mature six." He frowned. This wasn't going so well. He should have thought this all through more. How did people do this? "Look, I don't get why you're not more excited about this. I'm all yours again, Snotface, so get happy about it!"

The end of that phrase made Lizzie tense and Fred's eyes narrowed.

"Why do you look upset?" he asked.

"Because the last time you told me to 'get happy' you hit me on the head with a shovel."

Fred smiled. "Oh yeah, I did, didn't I?" he said, thinking back.

"Fred!"

He shook out of the moment. "Oh come on, I'm not gonna hit you with anything else!" He turned his head down and mumbled, "Unless you ask me to."

"I'm not sure _what_ you mean by that, but I'd rather not end up on an episode of Cops," she remarked. Fred just looked at her with confusion and she sighed. Maybe she should just let him off the hook and tell him she knew why he was back?

"Look," he said, "Natalie didn't need me anymore. You did."

Lizzie's eyes widened at the unexpected admittance. "But, you said I didn't need you anymore…"

"What are you? The record keeper of everything I've said? I was wrong, okay?" He tapped his fingers on the counter a moment before adding in a softer, yet clearly uncomfortable tone, "Apparently I— or we— YOU, rather, have some unfinished business_._"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Lizzie asked, tilting her head with interest and stepping closer.

Fred tensed, but held his ground. "So now you're a deaf record keeper? Boy, Snotface, you're in dire shape if you need me to go about repeating things I've JUST said! No wonder you can't live without me!" He leaned back to rest his elbow on the counter, but the sleeve of his jacket slipped. Lizzie cringed when she heard the loud bang of his elbow hitting the side of the sink.

"OW! Fuck!" Fred shouted, yanking himself up and grabbing the aching spot. Lizzie's eyes narrowed when she noticed he wasn't just quickly brushing it off as he always did. He really acted like it had hurt…

Stepping closer, she reached for his arm and gently started rubbing circles over his elbow. Fred froze and Lizzie took careful notice of the fact he seemed hypnotized by what she was doing. Their eyes connected and she pressed her other hand to the side of his face, stroking her thumb along his cheek. Fred shivered and whimpered under her touch and Lizzie's breath caught as she suddenly wanted to show him exactly how much he meant to her.

"Tell me…" she pleaded, catching his half-lidded stare. Her heart was pounding, but she wanted to make him say it. She smiled coyly as her fingers tangled into his messy hair and she eased her body against his. "Please, Fred?"

"Uhhh…" Fred moaned softly, his thoughts clouding over under Lizzie's caresses. He didn't know what she was up to but he was in no position to argue. A gasp escaped him as he felt his pants growing tighter around his groin and he shifted against Lizzie. "Yes?" he croaked. The friction had only made it worse.

Lizzie sucked in a breath as she felt him starting to poke against her stomach. "Uh… Fred… S-so, are you going to tell me?" she whispered, dragging a finger around his lips. She could hardly believe the effect she was having on him. She liked it, but it was having just as much of an effect on her. She was about to give in.

Fred reached up and touched her wrist, unable to remember his plan with Lizzie looking at him like that. It was getting harder to breathe and his tongue twitched and licked his lips. "Um… Well, I wasn't really sent back just for you…" he said.

Lizzie went up on her tiptoes and tilted her mouth toward Fred's, her hypnotic gaze beckoning him closer. "Uh huh…" she breathed. "Go on..." She gently pulled at his orange locks.

"Uhh! …I was… Fuck! Ung… I was sent back to you because…" His mouth tingled it wanted her so bad, but he was effectively paralyzed and forgetting what he was saying. A pulsing started in his cock. "Because I…"

Lizzie hung on his every word, ready to scream at him to say it.

"Because I have some disease," he said.

Lizzie fell back down on her heels and pulled away from Fred in shock. Had he really just said that? "Well, I'll say you certainly have something," she muttered.

Was she expecting too much from him? Did he even know what love entailed? _Oh God, I am gonna have to explain it to him_, she thought, but an idea suddenly clicked in her mind. She knew exactly how to handle this.

Smirking, she turned and stormed for the front door, making Fred realize his poor choice of words.

"Snotface?" he yelled, leaping after her.

Lizzie secretly smiled and walked faster. "If you're not going to tell me the truth, I'm heading over to Mickey's." She glanced back just to see the look on his face.

"Fartpants!? For _what_? Hair braiding?"

Lizzie bit back her smile. "Goodbye, Fred."

"But, you can't go!" he insisted.

"And why not?"

"Well…" He stopped and looked her up and down, obviously reaching for a good excuse. "You're not even dressed for one!" He motioned frantically at her robe.

"I'm more dressed than I will be."

Fred's eyes flashed. "That's it!" He grabbed Lizzie by the shoulders to get her away from the door.

Screaming, she tried to duck out of his grasp, but only managed to twist around and put her back against him. Fred locked his arms around her waist and Lizzie thrashed and spun the both of them around in the entryway. They fell against the wall, panting and laughing, but he still didn't let go.

"Ha! Try to get out of that now!" he taunted.

A wicked smile crossed Lizzie's lips at how jealous Fred was acting. "Oh yeah?" She tilted her head back and licked his neck. Fred's arms collapsed away from her and Lizzie bolted for the door before he realized what had just happened.

"Oi, you cheater!" he shouted.

Lizzie's hand was almost to the doorknob when Fred stepped in front at the last second. Her hand landed right on his crotch and squeezed. Both of their eyes widened, with Lizzie turning all shades of red and Fred simply unable to breathe. He felt his problem from earlier returning even stronger than before.

Lizzie yanked her hand back and turned from him in complete and utter embarrassment, covering her mouth with both hands. "Oh my God! Did I just grab your? Oh my God!" She glanced back, wanting to die and saw Fred just standing there in a lost state of bliss.

"That… that was definitely my knob…" he answered, breathing hard. "Um…" What did someone say in a moment like this? He looked back at Lizzie. "But it felt great!" he added, giving his best reassuring grin and a thumbs up. Lizzie became even more mortified and started to head toward her bedroom.

"Where're you going?" he asked.

She didn't answer him.

"Hey! Elizabeth?"

She kept walking for the bedroom.

"Snotface!"

She walked faster.

"Don't—"

There was a loud bang.

"…close the door," Fred finished in disappointment. What had gone wrong there? Did he have a bad knob? He looked down and checked himself, patting and then pulling out the waistline of his trousers for a look. "Hmm, no couldn't be that," he concluded aloud. Had to be she was just afraid it was all too massive for her to handle. He smiled proudly and hurried for the door.

It was locked.

Fred's smile vanished, and he tried rattling the knob several times before panic started to set in. "Elizabeth?" He knocked gently and shook the door. There was no answer and his face twitched in agitation. Fred's eyes narrowed and his patience was gone. He started pounding his fist against the door. "Dammit, Elizabeth!" He knocked faster and kicked the door hard. "You can't just grab and go!" he shouted, hitting the door one last time.

"Piss off!" Lizzie yelled back. She needed a moment to think about what the hell had just happened. That was NOT how she had wanted to grab Fred for the first time. _Talk about a plan backfiring_, she thought.

Fred fell away from the door and tried catch his breath. Obviously he needed a new approach, but it just drove him mad when he couldn't reach Lizzie. _So much for planning everything all out_, he thought and frowned. This moment had definitely been pissed on.

He shut his eyes tight and tried really hard to get himself under control, which was a lot like trying to fit three elephants into a thimble and asking them to dance.

Creeping closer, he pressed his ear to the bedroom door. His fingers impatiently drummed against it, until he realized that really defeated the purpose of listening for Lizzie. He stopped and cleared his throat.

"Snotface? Can I come in?" he asked.

"No!"

"Why not?" His voice even had a pout.

"'Grab and go' comes to mind," she answered.

"But that's what happened!"

Lizzie slapped her head. "Fred, you thanked me for grabbing your… your…"

"My willie. Yes. What's so wrong with that? You're the one that reached out for a squeeze! I was just being polite!"

"P-p-polite!" she cried. Did he have to keep talking about it? She could still feel it against her hand. How the hell was she suppose to calm the fuck back down after that?

"Come on, I was only trying to give you a compliment."

"Oh God," Lizzie groaned to herself. "Go away…"

"Snotface—"

"Don't call me that!"

"But, Snotf—'Lizbeth," he caught himself, "then…" Fred tried to think really hard about what the proper thing to say was. "I'm sorry my knob got in the way and you gave it a yank?"

"Please stop talking."

"Look, I'm not upset! I promise! I'll even let you do it again if you want," he offered excitedly. He really hoped she said yes. He heard a gasp from the other side of the door and smiled, his boiling impatience making him about ready to explode.

"Fred." She sighed.

"'Lizbeth," he said, his voice suddenly very soft and sincere, "I'm sorry… for whatever I did… and the truth is I'm back because… I really do have a disease."

Lizzie tensed.

"You've gotten me all lovesick. I… love you, Elizabeth." He held his breath until he heard the door's lock click a few seconds later.

Fred stared down at the knob and hesitantly reached to turn it. Taking a deep breath, he slowly pushed it open and stepped into the bedroom, finding Lizzie standing there with a smile on her face.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. Her heart was pounding so fast and she rushed to close the distance between them. Fred could barely catch her before her mouth fell against his in a deep kiss that shocked his entire being. His hands immediately pressed against her back as he drew her closer for more. The intensity had tears welling in Lizzie's eyes and she broke the kiss before she collapsed.

"Fred, I love you so much, but I swear to God if you disappear again now…" she said, shaking as her brown eyes stared desperately into his blue ones.

Fred shivered as he saw the full depth at which she needed him reflected inside her gaze. "I… I'll never leave you again," he said, his serious tone lacking all that was characteristic of his usual voice. "I meant it. I love you."

His words made Lizzie's tears fall down her face and she held up a trembling pinky for him to take. "Promise?"

"I promise," he said, hooking his finger around hers. "Forever… I'll always want you for my Snotface." He smiled.

Lizzie shook her head, breath-taken. "Fred, why did you wait so long to tell me how you felt?"

His eyes flashed with playfulness. "In a minute," he said, smirking and leaning closer. "First I'd _really_ like more of this…" He hesitated only a moment before covering her mouth in a fiery, possessive kiss that brought Lizzie's arms to coil around his neck.

He couldn't love anything more than Lizzie and when he felt her trembling against him it made his breath start to quicken. A strong desire built inside him and he wrapped her tighter into his embrace, making him suddenly aware of how warm and soft she felt. Lizzie arched her body against his, her fingers slipping up to comb through his hair again.

She had never once imagined she would ever kiss Fred this way, but now that she was she didn't think she could ever stop. She moaned against his mouth and sent a vibration that parted his lips in a gasp. The sound encouraged her to slide her tongue along his bottom lip and suck it, before she moved in to explore his mouth.

Fred's eyes flew open and he released a loud moan, his body jerking like it had just been shocked. His cock twitched and hardened with a building throb and he pushed it against Lizzie.

With a gasp, she pulled back and shook, staring at him in awe and fighting to breathe. Fred nervously watched her, suddenly unsure if he had again done something wrong, but he couldn't form the words to ask.

Lizzie answered his unspoken question by smiling and pushing herself gently against his erection in a tease.

"Uhh…hhh…" Fred shuddered, finding it both the most unbearable and incredible feeling he had ever experienced. His cock hardened to full capacity and started to ache. Lizzie repeated her tease, and Fred roughly bucked his hips back in response, gasping and pulling at her as he started to rub against her for more.

Lizzie's mouth smashed into his and she jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. Fred moaned and sucked on her bottom lip, stumbling back into the hallway and crashing against the wall. Lizzie shivered and ground covered sex against his cock.

"Oh, shit!" Fred cried. "What's gotten into you?" Lizzie was too busy nibbling and sucking on his neck to answer and Fred's eyes started to roll back. "Uhh… Dammit, I like that…" he gasped, bracing against the wall. His legs were beginning to shake so bad it was the only thing keeping him standing. Lizzie finally relented enough in her attack to speak.

"God, I can't believe this is real," she whispered, rocking against him. The lower half of her robe had fallen open and her black panties were soaked. She was aching to undo Fred's pants and feel his bare cock between her thighs. Just the thought had her on the edge. She'd never needed anyone like this; he was absolutely incredible. Dammit, she loved him so much.

Fred suddenly pinched her on the ass, and she screamed.

"What—"

"Believe it's real now?" he asked with a devilish smirk.

Lizzie stared at him, heart pounding. "Starting to… but, um… I might need a little more proof." She smiled and teasingly pulled at the front of his jacket.

"You're hard to please then," he replied, but his nervousness sprang back up. They smirked at one another and Lizzie went to work undoing the front of his jacket, which Fred watched breathlessly until she distracted him with another kiss and pushed the coat from his body.

Fred's legs gave out and he slid against the wall down to the floor with Lizzie still tightly wrapped around him. The tension in his pants was practically unbearable and when Lizzie shifted into a straddling position and rubbed over his length he thought he was going to die. "Fuck! It's like you've got magic panties!" he gasped. It felt so good.

"Thanks to you," she purred.

Fred's jaw dropped and his head fell back against the wall in a moan. "Oh you naughty girl…"

Lizzie shivered. "I thought you found this sort of thing disgusting though…" she teased, bringing her face closer to his.

Fred looked her straight in the eyes and growled. "I do… and right now I'd like to get really disgusting." He writhed beneath her in desperation and the sight alone triggered Lizzie's legs to squeeze around him before she crashed back against him for another kiss.

Her hands pressed to his chest, sliding out to push his suspenders down his body. Both of them rocked against one another as Lizzie grabbed for the front of his shirt and pulled it from the waist of his trousers. She slowly lifted it and caressed her hands up and along his trembling stomach. His body looked just as she'd imagined it would and Fred raised his arms for her to pull the shirt over his head.

Flinging it aside, she started to rub her hands over his bare skin. "Fred, I love you so much…" she breathed, shaking and trying to memorize everything about this moment.

Fred could barely hear her as he felt every thought leaving his mind. His cock was throbbing so hard it was like a heartbeat. He just wanted to feel more of Lizzie. His Lizzie.

Gripping her thighs, he pushed himself against her, hoping to find some relief, but it just made the ache even worse. "'Lizbeth!" he cried, bucking his hips and moaning loudly.

Lizzie's sex pulsed and her back arched in response, sending her breasts to peek out from the front of her falling robe. Fred's eyes widened.

He remembered these lovelies from the night before and wasn't going to let them get away without greeting them properly this time.

Trembling, he reached out with both hands and cupped them with an eager smile across his face.

Lizzie gasped. "Fred!" A shaking breath followed and she pressed into his hands.

"Oi, looks like I've found a couple of magic buttons," he teased. Smirking, he couldn't help but give them a squeeze. Lizzie jumped and Fred liked the sight of it. He wondered what else he could do with these and lightly slapped their sides, making them jiggle.

"GYAH!" Lizzie pulled back from him and tried to cover her breasts. "Are you INSANE?!"

"Is that a trick question?" he asked.

Lizzie stared at him incredulously. "Uh… Oh my God... Okay, Fred…" His eyebrows lifted. "These…" She pointed at her breasts. "…are not for hitting and…" She paused and groaned, mentally cursing herself for not thinking to explain this to him first. _Wonderful idea, Lizzie._ "I think there's something I need to tell you before you start looking for other 'magic buttons.'"

Fred's worry suddenly outweighed the need in his pants. "What's that?" He gulped. Had she changed her mind about him?

"Uh… well, before I woke up I sorta met the ones in charge of all the imaginary friends, and they… told me something I really need to explain to you." She bit her lip and watched his eyes widen.

"You met them? Yin, Yang, and Bob? How?"

"Uh, let's just say it involved a box…"

His eyes flashed with worry. He didn't like the way she was twitching. "What'd they say? Did they do anything to you?" he asked, set to pummel every one of them if they had.

"No, no. Nothing like that. Um, it's just, well they told me how to get rid of the magic that's ended up inside me before it's… too late for us."

Fred smiled. "What, you mean about how we have to do it?"

Lizzie practically choked. "Y-you know?"

Fred laughed. "Yeah, those idiots told me all about it. What, did they send you back here thinking you had to seduce me?"

"Yes! What the hell? They lied to me? They're gods; they can't do that!" Her eyes were wide. Those three were so lucky she was mortal because otherwise she would be throttling them right now.

Fred's sniggering came to a halt. "Whoa, hold up! They told you they were gods?"

Lizzie nodded slowly. "Yes… Aren't they?"

"No!" Fred scoffed. "They're 'independents,' whatever the bloody hell _that_ means, and I really don't want to get back into that whole mess." He sneered, but reached up to grab Lizzie's boob. She smacked his hand away.

Her head was spinning. What the hell was an 'independent' non-god? "What are they, freelance or something?" she exclaimed, feeling her stomach knot. Could they be trusted? "Okay… but they did create the imaginary friends, right?"

"Yeah, but to be honest I think that's _all_ they've really done." Fred rolled his eyes as Lizzie tried really hard to adjust to everything. He gently tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear and licked his lips. "But if you'd really like me to stay, Snotface, we'd better get that magic out of you quick before you accidentally send me off to mars or someplace horrible." He smirked playfully, bringing Lizzie to do the same. "Now, I'd like two lumps of sugar please!"

He excitedly leaned in and licked one of her nipples.

"Fr-Fred!" she gasped, grabbing his head and arching toward his tongue. Fred grinned deviously and licked the other one, making Lizzie hold him even tighter. His mouth hungered for more, and he placed it entirely over the nipple and sucked.

"Uhh!" Lizzie hugged his face and tightened her legs around him, pulling her sex along his clothed erection until they both felt the tip gently poke into her.

"Oh shit!" Fred bucked beneath her and fell back against the wall, shaking and breathing hard. "Do it! Fuck me 'til I'm human!" His body arched, lifting up his hips. "Ohhh!"

Lizzie almost died. The sight of his bare stomach falling up and down from how hard he was breathing had her panties soaked. "I… I think I'd better release some of your tension first or we'll never get that far…" She eagerly ran her hand over his twitching cock.

Fred's breath hitched and his head fell back to hit the wall. "Ow! Fuck! I don't care what you do, but I'm outta room down there! Release something!"

Trembling, Lizzie unzipped the fly of his pants. His cock sprung up from the opening dripping with precum. She felt her sex tighten at seeing Fred's full size and a shiver went through her body. "Is that better?" she asked, sliding her fingers along his shaft.

Fred couldn't even speak. His mouth just hung open and intermittently sucked in gasps as another bead of precum dripped from the head of his cock.

Lizzie smiled wickedly and leaned down to kiss his stomach. Her breasts pressed against his erection and Fred jerked, grabbing and holding the back of her head.

"'Lisbeth!" Every way she touched him was so amazing he couldn't stand it and he writhed, needing more.

A naughty idea flashed in Lizzie's mind and she leaned down, rubbing her chest over his length. "I want to make you feel so good," she whispered, rocking harder against him and sliding her tongue to his bellybutton.

Fred shook and dug his fingers into her hair. "Liz… I… I..." He was breathing so hard he couldn't speak.

Lizzie took his cock in her hand and placed it between her breasts. His tip hit under her chin, wetting her with his juices. She squeezed him between her and started rubbing his shaft up and down. Fred's mouth fell open and he thrust his hips and gasped at the added friction making his cock pulse. His entire body tensed and he latched onto Lizzie's shoulders.

"Fred, I want to make you cum…" she whispered, licking his stomach and thrusting faster over his shaft. His foot kicked out against the opposite wall.

"UHH! Fuck! I… I don't know what that is… but do it! Oh God, Elizabeth please!" He bucked his hips up, desperately writhing and digging his hands against her back. He whimpered and didn't look like he could get any air. Lizzie almost collapsed.

She pulled back and took him into her mouth, wanting to make this unforgettable for him. Fred's whole body locked up and his breath caught. Lizzie swirled her tongue along the underside of his cock and hummed just before giving him a hard suck.

"'LIZ—" he gasped, but couldn't finish saying her name. His hands gripped the back of her head and his hips lifted entirely off the ground, heels digging into the wall. He felt his cock suddenly tense and throb with a violent ache, before bursting with an intense wave of pleasure. "OH F—FU….CK!"

His eyes rolled back into his head and he held onto Lizzie for dear life, moaning and gasping as he spilled into her mouth. Lizzie sucked him harder and let it slide down the back of her throat. Fred jerked and a final drop squirted from his cock before he collapsed back against the ground, shaking and heaving.

When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Lizzie smiling at him and was suddenly hit full force by how much he loved her. It was so strong he could practically feel it burning inside his chest and he knew without a doubt that he had been made for her. It didn't matter that he had been created as an imaginary friend first. This was where he belonged, and he was going to spend forever showing her that in every way he could.

"You're so beautiful," he said, reaching out and pulling her against him. He wrapped his arms around her and cradled the back of her head. "I love you so much." His voice was so full of emotion that Lizzie shivered and she rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes.

"I love you too, Fred."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next chapter will have more fun. ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** Wow. Thank you everyone for all the reviews on the last chapter. I was so happy to find so many and to read the comments. I hope this chapter lives up to expectations. :) It took longer than I expected, but the comments kept me going. I swear Fred is a virginal ADHD rabbit in this one. :P

I dedicate the flipbook scene in this chapter to **Halo4anoose** because that's totally her fault and she **KNOWS** it! And also many thanks to her for the times she helped me get past writer's block. Go read her fic, she's AMAZING!

****Check out our new Drop Dead Fred fic "Second Chances" under our joint account ZombieWithANoose.****

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own Fred. :P

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Fred smiled and kissed the top of Lizzie's head. "You know, you're a lot naughtier than I ever gave you credit for," he teased, stroking her hair as they lay together in the hallway.

"I could say the same for you," she answered, causing Fred to smirk.

"Give me a minute and I'm sure I can get even naughtier." He lightly ran his fingers along her neck, taking in how much he loved her. He was still trying to believe all of this was real and started replaying what had just happened between them. His eyes suddenly lit. "Hey! Can I do that to you? Make you cum like that?"

Lizzie's eyes widened and she propped herself up on his chest to find him grinning excitedly at her. "Um… yes, women can have those too. Not… uh… exactly like men because it's a lot less… messy…"

Fred smiled at how badly she was blushing. "Great! Can I get started then?"

Lizzie squealed as he tried to flip her over, but she managed to hold him off. "Whoa, whoa! Wait!"

He gave her a confused look. "For what? We have to do it so I can be human and then we can do it LOTS more." He smiled and nodded his head all knowingly. "LOTS," he added.

Lizzie smacked her forehead. "Fred, I really want to— God I want to! But, uh… I have one thing to ask."

"So ask!"

"Uh… you know how to have sex, right? How it's all done?" She wasn't so sure since he hadn't known about orgasms…

"Of course I do! Bob showed me this morning!"

Lizzie blinked. "Bob showed you?" _No, no, no_, she thought, already not wanting to know any more.

"Yeah, see he made me this flipbook." Fred pushed her off him and jumped to his feet, pulling a notepad out of his pocket. Lizzie stood and watched as he started flipping through the pages.

Crudely drawn stick figures walked toward one another, the male sporting a massive erection that knocked the female over. They started humping one another and the female flung her twiggy legs in the air and flailed excitedly. Lizzie's mouth dropped in utter shock.

"Great, isn't it?" Fred asked, looking at it with eager interest. "Ooh, ooh! Here comes my favorite part!" The female started spanking the male and Lizzie found herself unable to turn away.

"I'm just… I'm just beside myself," she answered with disbelief, but noticed the stick figures' hair colors. "Oh my god!" she gasped. "Is that… Is that _us_?" Her eyes widened in horror.

Fred grinned and nodded, flipping through the monstrosity again. Lizzie wanted to look anywhere else, but she was absolutely entranced by it, like a giant, terrible train wreck.

"Oh god! That's just... and my boobs are lopsided!"

"Pfft! Bob doesn't know what they look like. I've seen them and I say they're perfect."

Lizzie blushed and smiled at the compliment. "Thank you," she said quietly. "But, Fred... _this_ is your reference for sex?"

"Yeah. Well, how did you learn?"

"School."

He crinkled his nose. "They teach you how to do it in school?"

"No, Fred! Gyah! Put that stick porn down!"

Fred made a face and dropped the flipbook disappointedly.

She took a deep breath and tried her best to explain this. "Look, I don't think that little book of yours really gives the right… understanding—"

"Come on! I know what I'm doing! I already know how to cum, and I've seen the pigeons do it a million times; it doesn't look that complicated!"

Lizzie's eyes flew wide. "Fred, that's not exactly how it's—"

He cut her off with a kiss, pushing her back into the bedroom, his hands exploring her hair. The feel of their half-naked bodies pressing together had Lizzie's mind clouding over. She wanted to push Fred off of her to get out what she wanted to say, but her resolve was fading fast and she found herself untying the front of her robe and letting it drop to the ground. Fred stumbled over it and when he realized what she'd done, he pulled away for a look.

His breath caught. The sight of his Lizzie standing almost naked before him with black panties already had his cock getting hard. "Ohh, 'Lizbeth…" Fred softly moaned with a half-lidded stare that made her shudder. "I wanna stamp on your head and peck you so hard."

Lizzie tensed with panic, but Fred fell against her and took her in a passionate kiss, driving her back against the edge of the bed. His tongue flicked out and worked its way into her mouth, quieting all her protests. His kiss was like an uncontainable fire coursing through her and she moaned in desperate need of more before pulling back with a gasp.

"Oh, screw it!" she cried, turning and yanking the dirt covered comforter from the bed before snaking a leg behind Fred's waist and dragging him down on top of her to the bed.

Fred's cock hardened in full and he pushed it between Lizzie's legs, shuddering. He wanted to find that spot that had made him jump before, but he found something unexpected instead. "Oi, you're soaking wet!" he shouted.

Lizzie placed his hands over her panties. "Take them off. Please. I need you," she gasped, arching her body and sliding her clothed wetness against him. Fred's cock started to ache again and she pulled at his trousers with need. "These too," she pleaded, staring into his eyes. "Take everything off…"

Fred hurried to do what she asked.

Stepping out of his shoes and dropping his trousers, he kicked them aside and returned for Lizzie's panties, yanking them down to her ankles. His eyes suddenly widened and Lizzie noticed he was gaping at what was between her legs. She blushed and kicked the panties from her ankles, slowly parting her legs for him to see. He still didn't move.

"F-Fred?" she asked softly, noticing the nervous expression upon his face. His innocence was breathtaking. "Are you going to come back?"

"Huh?" Fred kept staring and Lizzie tried really hard not to smile at how sweet she thought it was. She didn't want to embarrass him.

"Come make love to me," she said, pulling him onto the bed.

Fred hovered over her and felt his mouth suddenly go dry. "Um… Hold on…" he said, licking his lips. "I think I need to get my map…"

Lizzie blinked. "You're what?" She closed her legs and propped herself up on her elbows.

Fred didn't quite like her tone as it made him all the more nervous. "My map, woman. Are you deaf?" he asked, before leaning over the bed for his trousers. He reached into the pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper which he fumbled to open. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he glanced between it and Lizzie.

"Uh… Fred?"

"Shh!" he hushed, putting a finger to his lips and turning the paper. He grimaced and looked back at Lizzie. "Could you, uh, open those back up, Love?" he asked, motioning to her legs. Lizzie's eyes widened.

"Are you seriou— Ahh!"

Fred cut her off by shoving her legs apart on his own and eyeing the area. Several glances went between it and his erection before he looked back to his map. "Insert here," he read aloud and looked back between Lizzie's open legs. "Well that doesn't make much sense!"

"Oh my God…" Lizzie's mouth hung open in utter shock. "I'm about to have sex with a man who needs a treasure map to find where his dick goes…" So many things were wrong with this picture, like her still wanting to go through with it for one. "Fred, let me see the map."

"No!" he cried, pulling back with it protectively.

Lizzie's gaze hardened. "Let me see it," she said, her tone growing edgy.

Fred lifted the map high above his head.

"Dammit, Fred! Let me see it!" She made a grab for it, but Fred yanked it away and hid it behind his back, sticking his tongue out at her. Lizzie pulled herself onto her knees and moved toward him. "Hand it over," she said.

Fred's mouth twitched nervously. "No. I'm in charge here," he insisted.

"I don't think so," Lizzie said, trying to grab it again. Fred dodged her and smacked her on the head with the paper.

"I said no!"

Lizzie flinched. She was so beyond shock at this point she couldn't move. Fred went back to musing aloud about his map.

"I'm starting to think Bob doesn't know what he's doing! This is the WORST map I've ever seen! I mean, where's the X? The number of paces? And what the HELL is THAT?!" He twisted it upside down, his body tilting with it.

Lizzie smacked her forehead. "Damn you, Bob." She imagined the non-god laughing his ass off somewhere over this and she sighed loudly. "Fred, I can just show you what to do myself. Can you put the map down? Please?" She gave him a sweet and seductive smile, while sitting back on the bed.

"I don't need help," he pouted, but licked his lips at the sight of his Lizzie waiting for him like that. His stomach tightened. He really wished he'd been better prepared to do this. He wanted to make her happy, but wasn't really sure what he was doing and it suddenly bothered him that she did. He frowned. "Okay… how 'bout if I start to go in the wrong direction you… put me back on course?"

Lizzie nodded with a smile. "I can work with that." Her reassuring expression helped him start to relax.

"Alright…" he said, releasing a deep breath.

Lizzie warily leaned back onto the bed to let him climb on top of her. "Why do I feel like I should be wearing a helmet for this?" she whispered.

"Is that what people mean when they say 'protection?'" he asked.

"Uh… yes." She lied to make things easier.

"Should I find you a helmet, then?"

"No, just forget about the helmet."

Fred pouted. "Well okay, but do I need one of those balloons?"

Lizzie's mouth hung open a moment as her brain tried to catch up to wherever Fred was going. "Why would you need a balloon?" She was trying so hard to keep her patience.

"I don't know!" he cried. "I just know that Fartpants had a whole mess of them he used for pecking!"

Lizzie's eyes widened. "N-no, Fred… You don't need any of those. I'm on the pill." She realized her mistake when she felt him tense in her arms.

"The pill? What pill?"

"Not those pills, Fred! These ones make it so no… accidents happen."

"Accidents? What, like in case you get hurt?"

"No."

"Then for what? Are you sick?" His eyes were so filled with worry Lizzie decided to just explain it so he'd relax.

"Fred, these pills prevent pregnancy, so I can have sex and not end up with a baby until I'm ready." The bewildered expression on his face left her not knowing what to expect, but when she saw him starting to look a little hurt, she quickly added, "Fred, I love you. Will you just peck me 'til you're human already?"

The request triggered a naughty smirk from him.

"Well, if you insist," he said, finally letting his full weight down on top of Lizzie. She welcomed him by wrapping both her arms and legs around him and kissing his mouth. "Guess I better give you your present since you've already felt up the package," he added.

Lizzie smiled and lovingly stroked the side of his face as they stared in each other's eyes. Fred meant everything to her, and to get this chance to make him human, it just brought to light all the ways she had always belonged to him. He was the only one to ever make her happy, the only one who ever believed in her, who truly wanted her just as she was, and he was the only one who made her complete. A sudden fear gnawed inside her chest and she held him tighter. "Fred, this is really going to work, isn't it?" she asked.

He looked back at her with hints of worry on his face. "It should… We're the first to try this so I'm no expert, but… well, you love me, don't you?"

Lizzie nodded at him. "More than anything."

"And I love you, so sounds like we have nothing to worry about," he said, smiling. He felt his entire being tingling for her and Lizzie pressed her mouth to his in an urgent kiss that erased all of their doubts. His cock throbbed in anticipation against her stomach. Lizzie decided to discreetly help him into the right direction.

Lifting her hips, she writhed beneath him in a manner that brushed her sex up and along his length. The moist trail of Lizzie's juices sent Fred shuddering and he struggled to breathe. Lizzie kissed him deeper and dropped her hips down to push the head of his cock against her entrance, inciting a loud gasp from Fred. He wasn't sure how she had just done that, but the heat radiating from that spot and the wetness still slicked over him had his cock pulsing to be completely covered in it.

"Frrrred…" she moaned, digging her fingernails gently into his back. Her sex tightened and ached with renewed want and she squeezed her legs around him. "I want you…" She shivered and sucked on his neck.

"Oh god… 'Lizbeth, I… I want you too!" He shut his eyes and tried to push himself inside her, but hit just above the opening, jarring them both. Lizzie's hips bucked as she let out a startled whimper.

"Sorry…" Fred grimaced.

"Just try again…" She looked in his eyes and pushed up her hips to help him. The head of Fred's cock slipped inside, making his eyes widen.

"'L-Lizbeth!" He fought to breathe. She was so warm and perfect and unlike anything he'd ever imagined, it made him throb worse than anything. "That— Ohh god!" He couldn't take it, and shuddering, thrust himself completely into Lizzie's folds. Her sex quivered and squeezed around him, making him gasp. She was the most incredible thing he'd ever felt and he buried his face against her neck. "Elizabeth… Fuck… I wanna stay in here forever," he whispered hoarsely, unable to move. Lizzie's breath came out like a shiver and he twitched inside her walls.

"F-Fred, you… you feel incredible," she gasped, trying to adjust to the sensation of being one with him. She'd expected it to be amazing, but this was beyond physical understanding and his words were like an all-consuming caress to her soul. "I love you," she choked out.

A surge of magic suddenly radiated between them, washing them both in chills from the inside out. Speechless, Fred lifted his head and captured her mouth in a deep and sensual kiss that sent Lizzie's hips bucking against his. A surprising impulse drove him to match the action.

"Lizzie!" He shook as his head crashed back against her shoulder, the shock of pleasure to his groin awakening a part of himself he never knew he had. He instantly ached to feel it again; one taste not being enough. Rocking back into her, he found it somehow even better than before and moaned as Lizzie encouraged him by pulling at his hips.

"More…" she whimpered, a tingling heat spreading from her sex and into her stomach.

Fred gasped. "Ohhh… I like the sound of that," he said, giving into her request.

Slowly, he started dipping in and out, his breath moving in time with his thrusts. She was so tight, every tremble she made had the tension mounting in his cock, and he propped himself up on his elbows to watch the effect he was having on her. Her half-lidded gaze and desperate expression instantly stirred something carnal within him and it took all the restraint he had not to come undone. His pace rapidly grew in urgency.

Lizzie writhed and pushed her heels against his back to drive him deeper. "Oh my god you learn quick," she moaned, arching into his thrust. His eyes alone were enough to have her teetering on the edge. "Please, Fred… harder…" she begged. He sharply inhaled and fell trembling back against her.

"'Lizbeth!" His entire body tensed and he gripped the bed sheets so tight that his knuckles whitened. "Shit… I _knew_ you loved it when I played rough…" he gasped, gritting his teeth as he started driving his length harder into her folds. Every pound turned more demanding as an uncontrollable desire to embed himself deeper inside his Lizzie spun into a maddening obsession. Sweat glinted off his body and the bed rammed against the wall with every thrust. He didn't think he could last very long, but he was dying to know what would happen when he made Lizzie cum.

Lizzie shut her eyes and struggled to breathe. "Fred! Ohh… Ohh god… I... I'm so close…"

An intensely possessive feeling consumed Fred and he kissed her hard, unrelenting in his deep thrusts. Lizzie's legs began to shake around him and her arms flew to the back of his head, gripping his hair. Her mouth nibbled and sucked at his with need and Fred was about to lose it. Suddenly the magical powers she'd taken from him could be felt all throughout himself and they coursed between them both like they were one soul.

"Oh fuck!" he cried, tearing from the kiss and shivering. He looked at Lizzie and realized from the bewildered expression on her face she'd felt it too. His mind practically snapped and he couldn't hold off anymore.

Grinding deeply into Lizzie, Fred made every thrust linger until the insatiable ache for more became too great. Lizzie's hips bucked and she let out a strangled cry. Her stomach was trembling uncontrollably and she couldn't breathe. Fred's slow grinds and the way his hard cock stretched and filled her had her on the brink.

"Fred!" she gasped, writhing against him.

"Uh!" The sound of his name spoken so desperately drove him mad. "Say that again," he pleaded, kissing her hard. "Ohhh, it makes me wanna cum."

Lizzie trembled. "Fffffred," she purred, licking his lips.

Gasping, Fred bucked harder, his slow pace forgotten. "Say it again! Say my full name… 'Lizbeth, please…" His voice was strained and Lizzie was now moaning after every thrust. "Say who's the best at getting you off."

Lizzie kissed him once more, her hips bucking as she squeezed her legs around his waist. The heat inside her reached its limits and she gasped sharply. "I… I'm gonna cum!" she cried, grinding hard against him as she screamed, "Drop Dead FRED!" Her eyes rolled back as she was knocked by waves of pleasure.

"'Lizbeth! Oh… Oh FUCK!" Fred's entire body tensed and he felt his own release start to rush through his cock and spill into Lizzie. Her tight walls convulsed around him and their bodies crashed together with vigorous need.

Desperately, Lizzie dug her heels into his back and moaned. He felt more a part of her than ever and she was entirely consumed. She didn't want this to end, but already felt herself falling from her high. Their bodies rocked together as their strength threatened to give out. Fred's eyes locked with hers and with a final thrust, he shuddered and collapsed against her.

"I love you," she said, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Her body was so racked with emotion she was shaking. Fred struggled to regain his breath so he could answer.

"I… love you… too," he finally said, lifting his head to look at her. A strange, warm energy suddenly enveloped him and his eyes widened at what he saw.

A green light outlined both of their bodies.

He blinked. "D-do you see that?" he asked. Lizzie nodded slowly and he could see the worry in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I think so…" she whispered. "Fred… what is this?" Breathless, she reached out and touched his face, sending up sparks of green orbs. Her hand snapped back as they reminded her of the lights that came from Fred when he disappeared.

Nervously, Fred reached out and caressed Lizzie's face, watching the blaze of orbs follow his trail. "Well, it doesn't seem dangerous," he said, crinkling his nose, but inside he wasn't so sure. This whole turning him human plan seemed like it had failed…

He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly lost his breath. Their green glow shot upwards as if some invisible force were soaking it up from them. Fred's body jerked and he rolled off Lizzie, clutching his chest and gasping for air.

"Fred!" Lizzie screamed, trying to hold him down as he thrashed and convulsed out of her grasp. Her eyes filled with tears and she finally succeeded in pinning him when some otherworldly force knocked her back to the bed. Both of them writhed as they were consumed by the sensation of something being ripped from their souls. A final flash of light disappeared into the ceiling and left Lizzie weakened.

Panting, she quickly felt herself for damage and was surprised to find she was in one piece. It was even stranger that nothing hurt. She rolled and crawled over to Fred, noticing the green outlines were gone from them both. He laid facing away from her on his side and fear gripped her that something terrible had just happened, that those non-gods had deceived them both.

Shaking, she reached out and lightly touched his shoulder. "Fred?"

He immediately started laughing and rolled onto his back, still clutching his chest.

"Oh my God, you're not dead!" she cried, falling against him and squeezing him tight. Fred held her back, and when the initial shock died away, the sound of his continued laughter suddenly caught up with her.

She sat up and smacked his arm. "What the hell is so funny? I thought you were dead! You scared me to death!" Her body was shaking and her pulse refused to settle.

Fred snickered and motioned at her with his finger. "Come here," he said. Lizzie quirked an eyebrow in curiosity and leaned closer, trying to relax. He pushed her head down to his chest. "Listen," he said.

Lizzie's eyes widened as she heard a beat within his chest and her eyes lifted back to his. "Y-you have a heartbeat?" she asked. "You didn't have that before…" Everything started clicking in her brain. Her hand pressed over his chest and she felt it beating against her palm. "It's still there," she gasped. "Oh my God… it worked…" She kept looking at him as if she still didn't believe it. Just moments ago she'd been so terrified she'd lost him forever.

"Snotface, I think you might have hit your head or something when we did it," he teased. "Yeah, it worked."

"Then why were you laughing?"

Fred snickered. "Because having a heartbeat kinda tickles."

Lizzie's tears fell now from both relief and overwhelming joy. "I can't believe it. You're really human?"

Fred's arms wrapped tightly around her. "You just fucked me as an imaginary friend, yet you don't believe it when I'm real?" Lizzie pinched him. "Ow!" he cried, giving her a look. Lizzie giggled and he melted. "I'm all yours, Snotface," he whispered against her ear, feeling his pulse quicken at her closeness. He'd never been happier than in this moment. "You sure you're ready for that?"

Lizzie smirked at him. "I think I can handle you."

"Good, because you'll be needing to handle me a LOT!"


End file.
